PRESENTED BY 



i 




A NARRATIVE OF 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AMONGST THE 
PARAGUAYANS. 



BY 

Hi ' I 

.GEORGE FREDERICK MASTERMAN, 

A w ■ 

LATE ASSISTANT-SURGEON, 
f LECTURER ON MATERIA MEDICA, CHIEF MILITARY APOTHECARY, GENERAL HOSPITAL, 
ASUNCION DEL PARAGUAY. 
FORMERLY OF MEDICAL STAFF OF HER MAJESTY'S 82ND REGIMENT. 



SECOND EDITION. 



WITH A MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



LONDON: 
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, 

CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STEEET, 



\The right of Translation Reserved.'] 




Watson & Hazell, Printers, London and Aylesbury. 



PREFACE. 



in 



1 that the class of men following polities as a profession 
j in the United States is not, as a rule, recruited either from 
I the better educated or the more respectable ; and espe- 
| cially, that those who are placed in subordinate posts, 
although representatives in one sense of the word, are 
by no means so in the other ; a truth of which the higher 
classes in America are painfully aware, and not a little 
anxious that foreigners should fully understand. 

I have also been roughly handled for my opinion of the 
Brazilians ; I regret I cannot alter it, although I ha ve — 
in deference to the wish of some well-wishers of theirs 
whom I esteem — -softened the somewhat rude asperity of 
the terms in which I spoke of them ; still I can but think 
that negro slaves do not make good soldiers, and that the 
Emperor — who is unquestionably the best ruler South 
America has seen for many a long year — was singularly 
unfortunate in his choice of officers, and they, also, in their 
mode of conducting the war. 

I regret also that the greater part of my book is devoted 
to descriptions of scenes of cruelty and disaster, but with 

j the marks of the sufferings I had endured still fresh upon 
me, and from the anxiety I felt for the fate of my friends 

1 who were then prisoners in Paraguay, such scenes would 
necessarily constantly recur to my memory and give a 
if ^abre tinge to all I wrote of the country ; although I 
gladly dwelt upon every incident illustrative of the people 
which, trifling in itself, would serve to introduce lighter 



iv 



PREFACE. 



and brighter touches into the picture. The history of 
South America, like that of Mexico, has hitherto been 
written in blood and tears, and I fear will continue to be 
so written until Anglo-Saxons or Teutons shall there 
out-number the Indio- Spanish race. And with a soil so 
fertile, a climate so beautiful, and a shore of such ready 
access, I trust some of our swarming millions may now 
be tempted to emigrate to a country where success and 
prosperity cannot fail to reward the most moderate in- 
dustry and perseverance. 

But before emigration on a large scale to the Plate can 
be looked for, Englishmen must be assured that they will 
be effectually protected there in their lives, liberties, and 
property ; fortunately this can be done at little expense. 
Let the authorities of those so-called republics be but 
convinced that England will protect those who are best 
entitled to claim her protection, and there will never be 
any difficulty in the matter; the mere threat of active 
operations will be sufficient to render them unnecessary. 
Even Lopez himself, lawless and reckless as he seemed, 
at once agreed to the demands of the United States when 
Admiral Davis plainly told him that, if he did not, the 
guns of his ships would immediately open upon the bat- 
teries before him. And if the despatches of Mr. Grould to 
Lord Stanley had evoked an order similar in tenor to that 
sent from Washington, some forty British subjects would 
have been set at liberty, the lives of several of them would 



PREFACE. 



V 



have been saved, and I should have been spared the cruel- 
ties and indignities I suffered so long and so unjustly ; 
and, moreover, without the expenditure of 'an additional 
shilling, for the squadron lying idly at anchor in the 
estuary of the Plate would, by its mere appearance in the 
Paraguay, under the command of an officer who had had 
imperative instructions to demand our unconditional sur- 
render, have been sufficient, and more than sufficient, to 
effect our instant liberation. 

Sussex Villa, Croydon, 
March, 1870. 



CORRIGENDA. 

Page 29, line 22, for seite read siete. 

,, 30, Ipegtata omit the g. 

„ 66, line 16, for Parana read Panagua. 

,, 75, „ 2, „ Itugua „ Itagua. 

„ 76, ,, 21, ,, rubiaeeta ,, rubiacita. 

„ 77, „ 13, „ hiil „ hill. 

„ 115, „ 17, dele "and was then executed." 

„ 1 ( J4, ., 8, for muerto read muerte. 

„ 225, „ 6 from bottom, for Lavalle read Delvalle. 



DEFEAT AND DEATH OF LOPEZ. 



The present edition of this work had already left the printer's 
hands, when the news of the death of Lopez reached England, 
therefore I am compelled to leave much in the present tense 
which should have been written in the past, and to insert at 
the beginning of my story that which should have formed its 
conclusion. 

After the retreat from Caacupe, on the 13th of August, 1869, 
Ldpez fell back to the woody fastnesses of the central Cor- 
dillera, and, for a time, escaped the search made for him by the 
Brazilian cavalry ; so much so that the most conflicting accounts 
of his force and whereabouts appeared in the newspapers — he 
was in " the wilderness," wherever that may be ; he was mak- 
ing his way to the eastern Parana ; he had escaped into 
Bolivia, and so on ; and his army was at one time a mere 
handful of starving fugitives, and at another, numbered several 
. thousand well-armed men, reinforced by the nomadic Indians of 
the Gran Chaco. But the truth is, he retreated only far 
enough to secure himself from the danger of immediate pursuit, 
and was hidden so close to Villeta that he could send parties of men 
to collect arms from the battle-field, where, strange to say, they 
were found in abundance, and then made his way slowly to 
the north ; keeping always close to the flanks of the hills so as 
to avoid the river Paraguay, from which his movements Could 
have been watched and checked by the gunboats, and to be able 
to cross its affluents with his artillery before they became deep 
or wide enough to make the passage difficult. His intention, 
most probably, was to reach Bolivia, which he could have 



DEFEAT AND DEATH OF LOPEZ. Vll 

easily done with a small party ; but I fancy he lingered on the 
way in the hope that the Brazilians, believing him dead, would 
withdraw their army from the country, or that some political 
convulsion would compel them to reduce their force so consider- 
ably that he could re commence the war with a fair chance of 
success. Be that as it may, by the end of February of the pre- 
sent year he had reached the banks of the river Aquidavana (or 
Aquidaban, Page), a stream which falls into the Paraguay in 
lat. 23° 10 / south, about two hundred miles above Asuncion and 
a few leagues to the north of the town of Concepcion, and was 
there encamped when the Brazilian general Camara came up 
with him on the 1st of March. It is said that the Paraguayans 
were taken by surprise, and were dispersed and cut to pieces 
before they could be formed in order of battle ; but I have little 
doubt that they were so completely exhausted by hardships and 
starvation that they were then too weary and too weak to fight, 
and that they only waited apathetically for their fate. For it is 
impossible otherwise that a thousand Paraguayans with seven- 
teen guns could have been " defeated by a handful of our heroes, 
with the loss to us of only five men wounded," as the aide-de- 
camp of the Comte D' Eu writes to his chief. 

The battle, or massacre, was a decisive one ; Lopez and his 
officers vainly urged the men to fight to the last, and then, as 
before, he tried to secure his own safety by night, but was pur- 
sued and called upon to surrender ; he refused to do so, and 
was thereupon run through by the lance of one Jose Diabo, a 
corporal of lancers. Madame Lynch was at some distance, pro- 
tected by a division under General Caballero, a cousin of the 
colonel of the same name who defended Piribubuy, but she was 
captured with four of her children, after enduring the agony of 
seeing her eldest son Panchito cut down and killed at her side. 
The mother and sisters of Lopez were also taken, and were led 
to where his corpse was lying ; the sefiora threw herself on 
her knees beside it, weeping bitterly, but one of her daughters, 



Viii DEI EAT AND DEATH OE LOPEZ. 

remembering only that terrible day at San Fernando when she 
saw her husband shot pitilessly before her eyes, and the smart 
of the ignominious punishment inflicted upon herself, raised her 
impatiently, saying, " Madre, do not weep, this monster was 
neither a son nor a brother." A shocking story, which I would 
gladly believe to be untrue. 

It will be seen that four Englishmen were detained by Lopez 
after the majority of their companions had escaped ; of Mr. 
Skinner (surgeon) nothing has been heard, and it is said that 
the others^ were put to death, as the Brazilians were advancing, 
by order of the Dictator. Caminos the Foreign Secretary, my 
old friend Col. Aguiar, Solis, and many other officers, are men- 
tioned amongst the slain ; in the melee the poor old Vice-Presi- 
dent Sanchez was also killed. t Resquin was taken alive, so 
was Father Maiz ; of his brutal colleague nothing is said. 
Delvalle (not Lavalle, as I have called him in mistake) escaped ; 
I am glad of it for the sake of the loaf of bread he gave me ; 
Caballero and the negro Aveiro were still at large, but I have 
no doubt that long ere this they have been captured ; I trust 
that the former will meet with generous treatment, for the 
latter I have no pity, whatever his fate may be. Don Yenancio's 
name does not occur in any of the late despatches, so I have 
no hesitation in saying that he was put to death, probably 
shortly after the execution of his brother Benigno Lopez. 

I would have gladly given fuller and more exact particulars, 
but I have only the meagre newspaper accounts to copy from, 
supplemented by a private letter from Buenos Ayres. 

April 20th, 1870. 

* They are Mr. Hunter, draughtsman ; John Nesbit, mechanic ; and Taylor, a 
son of the Mr. Alonzo Taylor, whose story will be found farther on. 

t Rumour had already killed him twenty times, and even at the last lie was 
sabred in mistake ; Francia ordered him out for execution as a conspirator, one 
morning some fifty years before, but, at the last moment, discovering that he 
was innocent, reprieved him and afterwards set him at liberty. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



In October, 1861 , I entered the service of the Republic of 
Paraguay as Chief Military Apothecary, and reached Asuncion 
on the Christmas-Eve of that year. 

Don Carlos Antonio Lopez was then President, and under 
his administration there seemed little fear that the peace which 
Paraguay had enjoyed for many years would be interrupted. 
I was assured by his English agent, moreover, that the country 
was a civilized and advancing one. Outwardly, perhaps, such 
was the case ; the Paraguayans were polite in their manners, 
ready in conversation, and the better classes usually well 
dressed ; but it needs more than these to constitute a civilized 
people. They — as a people — were advanced, also, when com- 
pared with the Indians of the Chaco, their neighbours, the 
Payaguas and the Guaicurus ; and it would be unfair to judge 
them or their acts by European standards, by rules only 
applicable to communities long in the enjoyment of absolute 
civilization. 

I say thus much to show that I did not wilfully run into 
danger, and, on the other hand, to deprecate too stern a judg- 
ment of a people I esteem and pity. 

It must be remembered that two classes, related, but distinct, 



X 



INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



formed the population of Paraguay : the descendants of the 
Spanish settlers, more or less tainted by admixture with the 
Guuranis and other Indian tribes, the aboriginal inhabitants 
of Paraguay, and the descendants of these Indians themselves. 
Of the latter, necessarily more numerous, the bulk of the 
people consisted, and they were raised but a step above the 
savage of the pampas. 

The former and superior class was almost exterminated during 
the first year of the war, and hence one reason of the blind 
obedience of the rest to the orders of Lopez, an obedience almost 
as unreasoning as that of an ox to his master, but which has 
been mistaken in Europe for devotion and patriotism. For, 
owing to the system adopted by the Jesuits, who first gathered 
them into communities, and gave them just sufficient knowledge 
to enable them to feel the immeasurable superiority of their 
instructors, a system which threw the whole management of their 
affairs, even to the minutest details of their lives, into the hands 
of their priestly masters, they have never tried to think or act 
for themselves, and to obey unquestioningly had become almost 
an instinct w T ith them. Deprived of the aid of the only men 
who could have successfully resisted the tyranny of Lopez ; by 
education, by habit, by many years of most repressive despot- 
ism, trained into the belief and taught assiduously from the 
pulpit and the confessional that any opposition to the will of 
their ruler would be the worst of crimes ; and never doubting 
the story that the Brazilians wished to enslave them, they fought 
against all hope and chance of success, for four long years. 
And even now, reduced to the one-hundredth part of their 
original number, they still fight in defence of a man who has 
repaid their devotion by ingratitude, their obedience by mer- 
ciless cruelty. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE FIE ST EDITION. xi 

It reduces our admiration of their courage and endurance very 
materially to learn the truth of this matter. The spectacle of 
a people fighting valiantly, hoplessly, in defence of their liberty, 
and dying to the last man rather then yield it up, is one to 
excite our noblest sympathies. But that of slaves madly resist- 
ing the very men who offer them freedom and independence, 
and, blind to their own degradation, clinging to the chains 
which bind them, is one we can only view with mingled pity 
and indignation. 

Lopez has been regarded as a great general, an unselfish 
patriot. He is neither the one nor the other. The incapacity 
of the commanders opposed to him, the constant quarrels, the 
rivalries and jealousies of the Allies, and the difficulty of carrying 
on a war in a country the geography of which was almost 
unknown to the invaders, and the conformation of which gave 
every advantage to their adversaries, not any military talent of 
his own, has deferred his destruction so long; and with the 
Indio-Spanish obstinacy and tenacity, which he possesses in so 
remarkable a degree, it is very certain that he will never yield, 
although he knows that his cause is irretrievably lost, so long as 
he has a man to fight for him. As for his patriotism, the war 
itself sufficiently disproves its existence. 

The same men who would fight for him so devotedly would, | 
of course, make the kind of police a tyrant would choose. The 
pitiless cruelty with which they executed his orders may also 
be traced partly to natural ferocity, and partly to the gratification 
which men treated with repressive severity feel in trampling 
upon those superior, either in birth or in fortune, to them- 
selves. 



xii INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

I have retained the Spanish spelling of the names of places 
and of Guarani words, but I have marked the accented syllable 
with a grave accent, as Parana, in all cases ; in Spanish words 
I have, as a rule, only used the accent, and then the acute, 
when they vary from the usual accentuation of that language ; 
in which, by the way, j (and sometimes g and x) is a guttural 
aspirate. It must rather astonish a Spaniard to hear how Juan, 
Juanita, and our old friend Don Quixote, are generally miscalled 
by us. 

I may remark that the diphthongs ai and ay should be pro- 
nounced exactly like the i in thigh, so Paraguay should rhyme 
with why, or more exactly with why-i, and 

11 The town of Buenos Aires 
Built all in the mire is," 

(which it is not) writes a local poet of Hibernian extraction. 

It is remarkable that the Indians of South America almost 
invariably accent the last syllable, as in Tuyuti (white mud- 
water), a rnarsh ; Tuyucue (mud-that-was), a dried up marsh; 
Tatami (a little fire), give me a light; Yaguarete (a big dog), 
a tiger; whilst those of the North generally place the stress of 
the voice on the penultimate, e.g., Mohican, Potomac, Shamoke, 
and so on. 

The word Paraguay means a fishing-net, or a hide-bag for 
carrying water, and should have been written paragua-eu. The 
last syllable, eh [water), however, cannot be represented by any 
combination of letters known to the Spaniards ; indeed it is 
almost unpronounceable by Europeans, so they wrote it as we 
see. But it was a blunder altogether. The discoverers of the 
river under Gabot found some natives fishing, and pointed to 
the river to ask its name ; the Indians thought they indicated 



INTRODUCTION TO THE FIE ST EDITION. 



xm 



the net, and replied, paragua-eu, and the mistake was not found 
out till it was too late to alter it.* 

a. f. m. 

Croydon, August, 1869. 

* I should state that Mansfield and Page are my authorities for this derivation, 
and in confirmation of it, I noticed that the soldiers always called the vessel 
— of whatever material — in which the water for the prisoners was brought, 
paragua-eu ; but Thompson, who speaks Guarani fluently, says that it is from 
para, the sea; gua, pertaining to ; ew, a river = the river of the sea. Lopez, 
on the other hand, said, one day, that Paragua was the name of a great chief, 
once the ruler of the Guarani Indians, and that the river was named after him. 
Quien tiene razon f 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

P \GE 

PARAGUAY ASCENT OF THE RIVER— SCENERY STOEIES FROM 

RUIDIAZ DE GUZMAN . ... . . .1 

4 CHAPTEE II. 

CLIMATE INDIANS GREGARIOUS SPIDERS . . . .16 

CHAPTER III. 

ASUNCION PUBLIC BUILDINGS STREETS RELIGION . . 32 

CHAPTEE IT. 

THE PARAGUAYANS NATIONAL COSTUME EDUCATION . . 88 

CHAPTEE V. 

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF PARAGUAY FRANCIA CARLOS 

LOPEZ STORY OF CARLOS DECOUD TREATMENT OF 

NATIVE OFFICIALS . . . . . . .45 

CHAPTEE VL 

ELECTION OF DON FRANCISCO LOPEZ AS PRESIDENT ARRESTS 

FETES ........ 56 

CHAPTEE VII. 

CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE MANUFACTURES YERBA MATE . 64 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAG 

VISIT TO THE COKDILLEKAS SCENERY WOODS A FIESTA 

AT PARAGUARI ....... 73 

CHAPTER IX. 

CAUSES OF THE WAR GENERAL FLORES CAPTURE OF THE 

i( MARQUES DE OLINDA " EXPEDITION TO MATO GROSSO 90 

CHAPTER X. 

BATTLE OF RIACHUELO CAPITULATION OF ESTIGARRIBIA 

FALL OF GENERAL ROBLES THE CORBALANS . .104 

CHAPTER XL 

NATIONAL COOKERY AND CHARACTERISTICS VISIT TO HUMAITA 

SCENES IN THE HOSPITAL . . . . . .117 

CHAPTER XII. 

BATTLES OF PASO LA PATRIA, BELLACO, AND CURUPAITY 

NEGOTIATIONS AND DIPLOMACY . . . .130 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ARREST OF DR. RHIND AND MR. SURGEON FOX MY OWN 

IMPRISONMENT . . . . . . .140 

CHAPTER XIV. 

PRISON LIFE RELEASE OF DR. RHIND AND MR. FOX LIBE- 
RATION .... c ... . 157 

CHAPTER XV. 

CHOLERA MR. WASHBURN'S LETTER MISSION OF MR. GOULD 

EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE . . .163 



\ 



XVI 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PAGTC 

BOLIVIANS REGIMENTS OF WOMEN BOMBARDMENT OF ASUN- 
CION EVACUATION OF HUMAITA AND RETREAT TO SAN 

FERNANDO ........ 188 

CHAPTER XVIL 

THE PLOT MR. WASHBURN CHARGED AS A CONSPIRATOR 

HIS CORRESPONDENCE 1 AM DENOUNCED AND AGAIN 

ARRESTED ........ 197 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

JOURNEY TO VILLETA— I AM PUT TO THE TORTURE EXECU- 
TION OF CARRERAS AND BENITEZ . . . .211 

CHAPTER XVHL— Continued. 

THE NARRATIVE CONTINUED ATROCITIES OF LOPEZ MY 

RELEASE . . . . . . . . 242 

CHAPTER XIX. 

MR. TAYLOR AND CAPTAIN SAGUIER's NARRATIVES . . 259 

CHAPTER XX. 

BATTLES OF YPANE AND ITA-YVATE DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF 

LOPEZ ESCAPE OF THE ENGLISH CONCLUSION . . 283 

APPENDIX ......... 301 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN 
PARAGUAY. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAEAGUAY ASCENT OF THE RIVER — SCENERY STORY FROM 

RUIDIAZ DE GUZMAN MESTIZOS. 

Since the commencement of the disastrous war between Brazil, 
the allied Republics, and President Lopez, public attention has 
been drawn so much to the district of La Plata, that it is no 
longer necessary to define exactly the geographical position of 
Paraguay. 

But five years ago few Europeans had any clearer idea of its 
locality, than that it was situated somewhere amid the bewil- 
dering network of rivers radiating from the Plata, and close to 
Brazil. 

Now, however, the position of this jealously guarded repub- 
lic is well known, and the name of Humaita, the Sebastopol of 
South America, is familiar to all newspaper readers. 

I may shortly state, therefore, that Paraguay is a tract of 
country about four hundred and fifty miles long, by two hun- 
dred in average breadth, bluntly wedge-shaped in form, and 
almost in the centre of the great southern peninsula. It is 
bounded on the east and on the south by that river of islands, 
the Parana, and on the west by the river Paraguay. Its north- 
ern margin is not well defined ; for neither a large river nor a 

1 



2 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



continuous mountain chain divides it from the Brazilian province 
of Mato Grosso. 

Lopez claimed as far as the Bio Blanco, in lat. 21° north, and 
there can be no doubt that this was the original boundary be- 
tween the Spanish and the Portuguese possessions, and so far 
he had right on his side. The Brazilians, on the other hand, 
would shift it to the Bio Apa, a degree further south. 

Paraguay claimed, also, some territory to the south-east of 
the Parana, but that clearly belongs to Corrientes ; and a con- 
siderable part of the Gran Chaco, an almost unexplored district 
on the west of the Bio Paraguay, apparently a dreary waste of 
lagoons and marshes traversed by rapid, muddy, and tortuous 
rivers. The only value of this latter claim lay in the fact, that 
Paraguay thus commanded the mouth of the river Vermejo, a 
narrow, impetuous stream, which, flowing from Bolivia, may 
one day become the highway of a large trade, and one of the 
most important outlets for the produce of that country. At 
present, not even a canoe floats on its turbid waters. 

The south-west of Paraguay, the side from which it is gene- 
rally approached, is low, flat, and for many a long league 
marshy and impassable ; it is the district of the esteros, as these 
flooded lands are called. Even beyond them the soil, a stiff 
clay containing much selenite, retains the rain on its surface, 
and in the wet season immense shallow lakes form, simulating 
the esteros themselves, but drying up in hot weather, and leaving 
a grey dusty soil, full of cracks, and covered with wiry grass 
and low shrubs. 

When the river is high the water extends far and wide beyond 
its crumbling banks, and were it not for the melancholy palms 
standing as landmarks above the flood, it would be difficult to 
trace its former boundaries, or navigate the muddy lakes, almost 
illimitable in extent. The immense lake Ypoa, which is rather 
a series of marshes and shallow lagoons than a continuous sheet 
of water, occupies nearly the whole of this district, as the still 
larger lake Ybera does the northern division of Entre Bios on 
the opposite shore of the Parana. A dreary malarious waste, 



LAS MISIONES. 



8 



only separated by a narrow strip of higher land from the river 
when the latter is low, and continuous with it at other times. 

Above the Tebiquari the country is higher and more diversi- 
fied ; a long range of distant hills can be seen, from the river, 
which culminate, a hundred miles above, in the cordillera of 
Cerro Leon. The landscape also becomes bolder and almost 
picturesque. Vast woods, broader and denser as we journey to 
the north, vary, and at length occupy, the entire breadth of the 
picture, and a dark red sandstone, easily disintegrating into 
sparkling grains, replaces the grey clay of the esteros. 

The south-eastern division of the republic, known as the Mis- 
iones, the old Jesuit settlements, or reducciones de los Indios, 
as they were called, is perhaps the most fertile and valuable in 
the whole country. Before the war the richest and oldest fami- 
lies in Paraguay were to be found there ; and the climate being 
cool, the land high, the soil deep and crumbling, the province 
was celebrated for its salubrity and productiveness. Large 
churches, comfortable homesteads, and innumerable herds of 
cattle were then to be seen, where now is but a desolate wilder- 
ness, abandoned to the fox and the heron. 

Of the eastern division, bounded by the Parana, very little is 
known ; pathless and almost impenetrable forests defy explora- 
tion on the land side, whilst the falls and rapids of Curitiba cut 
off the upper waters of the river from navigation. 

The north of Paraguay is hilly, but it has been scarcely ex- 
plored ; and as I have not visited it I am unable to describe it, 
except near the large town of Concepcion. There, however, 
gneiss and mountain limestone replace the basalt, sandstone, 
and clays of the south ; and there, if anywhere in Paraguay, the 
mineral wealth South Americans are always dreaming about 
should be looked for. The Government, and the people gene- 
rally, showed a singular distrust and reticence whenever this 
subject was mentioned ; I received several specimens of copper 
ore to analyse and report upon, but could never learn where 
they came from, except that it was " up the river." And when 
I told them that neither yellow mica nor rhombic iron pyrites 



4 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



contained gold, I was supposed to be intentionally misleading 
them with some ulterior purpose. As an example of their sus- 
picious behaviour, whenever the precious metal was in question, 
I may relate the following affair, which annoyed me greatly at 
the time. 

In 1866 we were without sulphur in the Hospital, and I 
wrote to Mr. Charles Twite, the Government mining engineer, 
who was then searching hopelessly for coal, to send me in a few 
arrobas of the above pyrites, which yield sulphur abundantly 
when heated. He succeeded in getting me about a hundred- 
weight of the mineral, and sent it to the commandant of the 
partido, with orders to forward it without delay. That func- 
tionary, however, rinding the box to be very heavy, opened it, 
and the bright yellow stones at once excited his suspicions. He 
reported what he had seen to the Minister of War, and when 
the box arrived in the capital an investigation took place, and a 
sample of the mineral was sent to an Italian apothecary in the 
Plaza for examination. He reported that it was only a com- 
pound of iron and sulphur, and almost without value. This 
was not satisfactory ; another specimen was sent to him with 
the information that it certainly contained gold, of which " el 
senor Boticario Ingles" and Mr. Twite intended to rob the re- 
public. He replied, as before, that it did not contain a particle of 
gold ; and through a mutual acquaintance informed me of the 
whole affair. I had commenced the distillation of sulphur from 
the pyrites, which had, meanwhile, been sent on to me, but I 
at once ceased working when I heard of the suspicion enter- 
tained concerning us, and called upon the Minister of War to 
request an explanation. He, Paraguayan-like, had the hardi- 
hood to say that he knew nothing about the investigation he 
had himself ordered, although a specimen of the mineral lay 
upon his table as I entered ! 

One feature of the rivers of Paraguay, and a very depressing 
one to the traveller, is the absence of life from their banks. 
One steams up for league after league against the turbid stream, 
and no sign of man or his industry, or scarcely, indeed, of any 



RIVER SCENERY, 



5 



living creature, is visible. Here and there an alligator is bask- 
ing on a sand bank, and disappears, as the boat approaches, 
with a lazy plunge into the water; a few melancholy storks 
watching with dreamy eyes for the chance of seizing an unwary 
fish, or a vulture waiting with folded wings for the mangled 
remains of a carpincho, are, perhaps, all one sees in a long day's 
journey. 

There are the high clay banks, if the rivers are falling, or the 
lagunas, if at flood, with the meadow-like pampas beyond, 
covered with a short dry turf, scarcely green in the foreground, 
except shortly after rain, grey and then blue, as the plains 
recede to the horizon, and, save for the shadow of a passing- 
cloud, without one interruption to the gradual change of tint, 
and as silent and unpeopled as when they first rose from the 
bottom of the sea. 

If, when the Paraguay is ascended, it should be at flood, the 
view is but of endless swamps covered with camalote and other 
aquatic plants, or half-drowned trees showing but their tops 
above water, and only upheld by the twisted cables of lianas 
which bind them firmly to each other, or floating in natural 
rafts, corded and moored by their tangled strands. The tepid 
water between them is almost hidden by white and blue lilies, 
perhaps by the broad leaves and snowy flowers of their 
queen, the Victoria Regia. Flocks of small aquatic birds are 
seen, it is true, fishing amidst the network of creepers and 
branches, but they give little animation to the scene, and utter 
no sound, save a low, warning cry of alarm, if we approach 
them too nearly. It is only at sunset, when the parrots are 
flying back after a raid on the orange trees, that the death-like 
silence is broken. Then their harsh screams, softened by 
distance, as they wing their way far overhead, sound almost 
musical, and light and life seem to fade out together, as the red 
disc disappears and the last straggler passes. 

On the Gran Chaco shore (the right bank of the Paraguay) 
and on both sides above Humaita for a hundred miles, there are 
palm groves, and little else, as far as the eye can reach, not, 



6 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

however, with the tall column-like stems, rising slender and 
arrowy to the feathery crest of foliage, as one usually pictures 
that most graceful of trees, but with thick bulging trunks, rough 
with spines, with a thin ragged crown, and great bunches of last 
year's dead leaves rustling dry and withered beneath the new 
growth, till the high winds shall sweep them away. 

"When the river is very high, it is difficult for a person on it 
to believe that it is not flowing in a canal raised above the 
general level of the country ; for, no banks being visible, and 
the water extending without definite margin between the trees, 
the land appears to slope down on both sides of it. 

I should, however, be giving an impression foreign to my 
intention if the banks of the river should be imagined to be dull 
or uninteresting ; the rich luxurious vegetation, the vivid con- 
trasts of form and colour, ever changing and developing into a 
thousand combinations of both, give them a beauty of their own ; 
but they have withal an air of sadness and desolation, and it was 
that which most strongly impressed me at the time. 

The absence of life and activity is not peculiar to the scenery 
of the Paraguay ; it is the same the whole way from Buenos 
Ayres. The few sleepy towns on the Parana scarcely vary its 
monotony, but seem rather to intensify it. Little evidence of 
activity is to be seen in them, and the broad sandy streets, save 
for wandering fowls or goats, are almost always still and lifeless ; 
and if by chance a few passers-by should be met with, they are 
only idly strolling without an apparent purpose, or even a pre- 
text of business. The towns themselves have a singular con- 
centration about them, speaking of the time when they were 
surrounded with stockades, and their inhabitants crowded 
together for mutual defence against the Indians of the pampas. 
Not only so, but they seem to be thoroughly isolated, and were 
it not for the domes of the churches seen afar on these vast 
plains, one would come upon them absolutely without warning. 
There are towns there, of five or ten thousand souls, in the 
midst of an unpeopled waste, scarcely a road, not a trace of a 
suburb around them. To me they always looked like some 



THE FAMINE IN BUENOS AYRES. 



7 



ancient centres of civilization long abandoned to the owls and 
the fox, rather than the homes of a large, often increasing, but 
siesta-loving population. 

After leaving Corrientes, a hot, dreary, sandy city, there is 
not a single town for nearly three hundred miles. Between 
Humaita and Asuncion are — or were, for the war has left but 
the names of several of them — only a few villages, a little clus- 
ter of huts around a comandancia, or perhaps a barn-like church ; 
for all trade being confined to the capital in order to facilitate 
the collection of the custom dues, they had no chance of in- 
creasing in size beyond the needs of their few inhabitants. 

Paraguay was first colonized by the Spaniards in 1536, shortly 
after the destruction of the first settlement in La Plata, now the 
site of the town of Buenos Ayres. For a long time there was 
but a stockaded fort, dependent upon external supplies for food 
and other necessaries ; for the Indians around them were so 
warlike and intractable that all agricultural operations — for 
which however the Spanish settlers never seem to have had 
much taste — were out of the question, and the garrison was 
several times reduced to great straits for want of provisions. 

A native friend of mine lent me for a short time a book en- 
titled, "La Historia de la Conquista, por Buidiaz de Guzman. 
Conquistador." It had been printed by order of Don Carlos 
Lopez, the late President of Paraguay, from the original manu- 
script in his possession. I should have liked to have translated 
the whole of it, for it gives a most vivid picture of the toils and 
difficulties of the first settlers ; and coming from an eye-witness, 
these stories are of greater value. In one place he tells a tale 
which is so curious that I give it here from the original : — 

"In the year 1535 they suffered cruel hunger in Buenos 
Ayres, and since proper food was utterly wanting, they ate 
toads, snakes, and putrid animals, which they found on the plains ; 
and coming at last to the same extreme famine which the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem suffered in the time of Titus and Vespa- 
sian (when they devoured human flesh), so it came to pass that 
the miserable people sustained the life of the living by eating 



8 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY* 



the bodies of the dead, and even of executed criminals, leaving 
nothing but the bones, and there was one man seen eating the 
corpse of his own brother. 

" At last almost all the people died, and it happened that a 
Spanish woman, who could no longer bear such terrible suffer- 
ing, was constrained to leave the town to seek amongst the 
Indians some means of sustaining life ; so she journeyed along 
the bank and up the river till she reached Punta-gorda in a 
great wood. It was then night, and she looked out for a place 
to lie down in, and spying a cave in the river banks, she entered 
it, and found herself face to face with a lioness ; the terrified wo- 
man, nearly dead with fear, fainted away, and when she came to 
she laid herself down humbly at the animal's feet. The lioness, 
although dolorously ill, when she first saw her, sprang forward 
to tear her in pieces ; but her royal nature prevailing, she felt 
compassion for her, and laying aside in a moment the ferocity 
and fury with which she was about to rend her, gave food to the 
poor woman (who had now lost all care for her life) in a caress- 
ing manner. The woman then assisted the suffering animal, 
which shortly afterwards gave birth to two cubs. In their 
company she remained for several days, being fed by the lioness 
on the flesh of animals she killed, and gratefully feeling this 
hospitality, nursed the little animals. At last, one morning as 
she was going down to drink of the river, some Indians, who 
were passing, surprised her and carried her off to their village, 
where one of them took her for his wife. 

" Some time afterwards, a captain and his company making an 
excursion into the neighbouring territory, brought in this same 
Spanish woman, who through hunger had fled to the Indians. 
When Francisco Euiz Galan (the captain) saw her, he ordered 
her to be cast out into the wilderness, that she might be torn 
and eaten ; his order being carried out, they led off the poor 
woman and tied her firmly to a tree, and left her there alone 
about a league from the town. At night a great number of 
wild beasts collected to devour her, and amongst them came 
the lioness which she had assisted in her trouble, and, re- 



LA MALDONADA. 



9 



cognizing her, she defended her from the other beasts which 
sought to tear her in pieces ; and remained guarding her that 
night, the next day, and the following night, until at last, on the 
third day, some soldiers had gone out by order of the captain to 
see what had become of the woman, found her alive, and the 
lioness, with her two cubs, at her feet. Without being attacked, 
the animals withdrew a certain distance to allow the men to 
approach ; and they, admiring the instinct and humanity of the 
wild beast, went up, untied the woman, and took her away 
with them, leaving the lioness roaring furiously to show how 
she felt the loss of her friend, her royal generosity and gratitude 
being very different to the want even of humanity shown by the 
men. 

"The woman, who thus escaped from the fate intended for 
her when she was left in the wilderness., I know ; she is named 
Maldonada, but she ought rather to have been called Biendonada. 

"However, from the result, we see that she did not deserve 
such a punishment, since necessity had been her only reason 
for leaving her own people and going amongst the barbarians. 
Some attribute this hard sentence to- Captain Alvarado ; but 
whoever it might have been from, it was, as I say, of almost 
unheard-of cruelty." 

We gather from this narrative that the Spanish women were 
not allowed to mix with the natives, although the men very gene- 
rally did so, and with very lamentable results. For the Spaniards 
committed two grand mistakes in South America : enslaving the 
aborigines, and intermarrying with them. The first, a cruel 
wrong to the Indians ; the second, an irreparable injury to 
themselves, for in place of raising the race they mingled with, 
they sank themselves to the lower level. And the folly has 
brought retributive punishment for the crime. 

The endless, intestine wars of the turbulent, indolent, and' 
lawless mestizos, their wholesale butcheries of each other, which 
have depopulated whole provinces, are but the result of that 
primary error. Nor will they cease, I fear, until the whole mixed 
race has disappeared, until the descendants of the oppressor and 



10 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



the oppressed shall have been alike annihilated by the terrible 
vengeance demanded for the atrocities of the conquerors. 

Had they only acted as wisely, in that respect, as our colonists 
did in North America, and had "no dealings with the heathen," 
how different the result would have been ! 

There is another story from the same source which I am 
tempted to quote, although the tragedy it recounts took place 
lower down the Parana on the Argentine side of the river, for 
its own sake, and for that of the quaint language it is told in, 
and which I have endeavoured to preserve in my translation. 

" Sebastian Cabot having left for Spain, to the great sorrow of 
those who remained, for he was an affable man, of great pru- 
dence and valour, and very expert as a practical cosmographer, 
Captain Don Nurio de Lara endeavoured to preserve the peace 
with the surrounding Indians, particularly with the Timbues, 
men of mark and good-will, and especially with their two chiefs, 
who, helping to support this good understanding, supplied us with 
food and never-failing labourers. These chiefs were brothers, 
one called Mangore, the other Siripo, both lusty young fellows 
of about thirty years of age, expert and valiant in war, and 
greatly feared and respected by all. Mangore, the most power- 
ful of the two, was greatly attached to a Spanish woman in the 
fort of Santo Espiritu, named Lucia de Miranda, the wife of 
Sebastian Hurtado, a native of Ecija. The chief made many 
presents to her, bringing her fruit and flowers, and such-like 
things, which she received kindly [and graciously: this, with 
her beauty, inspired the barbarian with such fondness and dis- 
orderly love for her, that he determined to carry her off at the 
first opportunity. So he invited her and her husband to his 
village, promising them a hearty and friendly welcome ; but 
Hurtado, from right motives, declined it. Mangore, seeing that 
his plan failed, from the prudence of the husband, and the honest 
faithfulness of his wife, lost all patience, and in his savage in- 
dignation and guilty passion arranged a treacherous plot (under 
the disguise of friendship) by means of which he hoped to get 
the poor woman into his power. So he tried to persuade his 



THE MASSACRE OF SAN ESPIRITU. 



11 



brother that it did not do to submit so suddenty and completely 
to the Spanish rule, for they were already so lording it over the 
land that in a short time they would overtop every one, as their 
acts plainly showed, and that if they did not put a stop to this 
in good time, afterwards, however much they wished, it would 
be impossible, and they would remain slaves for ever ; there- 
fore, it seemed to him, that they ought at once to kill and 
destroy all the Spaniards whilst they had the opportunity. To 
which his brother gravely replied, 6 How can you possibly treat 
the Spaniards in this way, when you have always shown so 
much friendship for them, and loving Lucia so much ? ' and 
that for his part he had no intention of doing anything of the 
kind, for he had received no provocation from them, and had 
been always treated well and kindly by them, and therefore 
could find no reason for taking up arms against them. To 
which Mangore indignantly replied that he ought to do it for the 
common good of their people, and because his own wish ought 
to be respected by a good brother. And he knew so well how 
to mould his brother, who was a great warrior of generous and 
open countenance and heart, that he persuaded him to enter into 
the plot, and he only waited for an opportunity to carry it out, 
which Fortune soon afterwards gave him, to the height of his 
wishes, in this way. There being a scarcity of food in the fort, 
Captain Don Nuno sent forty soldiers in the brigantine with 
Captain Eui Garcia to seek for it in the river islands, with 
orders to return as soon as possible. So the brigantine having 
left, Mangore had a good chance, and the more so because Sebas- 
tian Hurtado, the husband of Lucia, had gone with the rest ; 
so he soon collected under their chiefs more than 4,000 Indians, 
who were placed in ambuscade in a grove of willows, on a bend 
of the river, about half-a-league from the fort ; then, to carry 
out his design more easily, and facilitate their entrance, Mangore 
went to the fort with thirty strong young men carrying fish, 
meat, honey, maize, and butter for the garrison, and with great 
show of friendship divided these things amongst them, giving 
the greater part to the captain and officers, and the rest to the 



12 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PAEAGUAY. 



soldiers ; the present was gratefully received, and, as it was 
near sunset, the bearers stayed that night in the fort. When 
the traitor knew that all, save the guard and sentinels, were 
sleeping, he gave a signal to the men in ambuscade, who had 
silently surrounded the walls, so they within and those without 
attacked at the same moment the sentinels, set fire to the maga- 
zine, in an instant seized the gates and killed the guards, and 
those of the Spaniards whom they met hurrying in terror and 
the greatest disorder from their quarters to the place-of-arms ; 
for the force of the enemy was so great that some ran here, 
others ran there, and many were killed in their beds without 
being able to offer the least resistance. But a small band fought 
valiantly, particularly did Don Nuno de Lara, who ran to the 
courtyard with his sword and shield in the midst of the enemy, 
wounding and killing many, and causing such terror that none 
dared come near him. Seeing that he slew all who approached, 
the chiefs and warriors therefore drew off, and attacked him 
from a distance with darts and lances till he was covered with 
wounds and bathed in blood . At the same time the sergeant- 
major, in a suit of armour and armed with a halbert, fought his 
way through the ranks of the Indians to the gate, intending to 
make himself master of it ; he cut down and wounded his foes 
on all sides, receiving himself many blows, and had reached the 
threshold, but there was surrounded, shot through with arrows, 
and fell down dead. 

" Also Ensign Ovieda, and a few of his men well armed, sallied 
out and attacked a large force of the enemy, and tried to drive 
them out of the magazine, and pressed forward with great 
courage, but were all mortally wounded or cut to pieces ; 
valiant, however, until death, they sold their lives in this cruel 
battle at the cost of numberless of the barbarians. Their cap- 
tain, Don Nuno, wounded, bleeding, standing alone without 
succour, threw himself into the densest throrg of the enemy 
where he saw Mangore ; he cut him down with his sword, and 
making sure with two other blows left him dead at his feet. He 
killed many other chiefs and Indians ; but at length, exhausted 



THE MASSACRE OF SAN ESPIRITU. 



13 



and bloodless from his many wounds, he fell to the earth, and 
died cheerfully under the blows of the savages, since like a 
brave man he had manfully done his duty. After the death of 
this captain the fort was soon taken, the Indians leaving none 
alive save five women, amongst them the too dear* Lucia de 
Miranda, and some three or four children who were taken as 
prisoners. 

"A pile was then made of all the spoil for division amongst the 
warriors, but rather that the chiefs might more easily take what 
best pleased them. Which being done, Siripo gazed on the 
dead body of his brother and the lady who had cost him so dear, 
and burst into tears as he thought of Mangore's ardent love and 
how he had longed for her ; and when the spoil was divided he 
would take nothing, save Lucia. She was thus his slave, yet she 
was the ruler of his free-will, as I shall show presently. When 
she was given up to him she wept bitterly, and although she 
was well treated by Siripo and his servants, nothing could con- 
sole her for being in the power of a savage. One day, seeing 
she was so unhappy, Siripo tried to console her, and said to her 
with great tenderness, 6 From to-day forward, dear Lucia, I 
will not have thee for my slave, but for my dearest wife, and as 
such thou wilt be mistress of all I possess, and do with it as 
best pleases thee, and I now give thee the most valuable trea- 
sure I have — my heart.' 

"This speech completed the misery of the hapless captive, and 
a few days afterwards her sorrow was augmented by the arrival 
of Sebastian Hurtado, who was brought as a prisoner to Siripo. 
He had returned with the rest in the brigantine to the fort, and 
saw it sacked and ruined and the bodies of the dead lying un- 
buried there ; but not finding that of his wife, he considered 
within himself, and resolved to go over to the savages, and remain 
a prisoner with her, preferring this, or even death, to living 
apart from her. So, without telling any one of his intention, he 
set off on this errand, and the next day was taken prisoner, and 

* Caro lias, in Spanish, the same double meaning as its English. 



14 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



presented with his hands bound to Siripo, who, looking angrily 
on hirn, ordered him to be taken from his presence and put to 
death. This was heard by his unhappy wife, who threw herself, 
dissolved in tears, at the feet of her new husband, and prayed 
him to spare his life, and let them both be his slaves for ever. 
Siripo at length granted this prayer, moved by the earnest sup- 
plications of her he was so desirous to please, but on a very hard 
condition : that, under pain of his indignation, which would cost 
the lives of both, they should hold no communication with each 
other. Moreover, he promised to give Hurtado another woman 
for a wife, with whom he would live very happily, he said, and 
that he would not treat him as a slave, but as his friend. They 
both agreed to these terms, and for some time nothing particular 
occurred ; but as there are no bonds which can prevent lovers 
following the road to which their passion would lead them, they 
never lost an opportunity of conversing together ; and as Hur- 
tado ever had his eyes fixed on Lucia, and she on her true 
husband, they soon attracted attention, especially as they were 
jealously watched by an Indian girl who had been the favourite 
of Siripo, but repudiated for the sake of her Spanish rival. So, 
one day, this girl said maliciously to Siripo, 6 You are very con- 
tented with your new wife, but she is not contented with you ; 
she values more a look from her former husband than all the 
affection you can give her. But this you deserve for casting off 
her who by blood and love belonged to you, for the sake of this 
vile stranger whom you have taken in her place.' Siripo 
changed countenance when he heard this, and none doubted but 
that he would immediately punish the lawful lovers atrociously ; 
but, wishing to have full confirmation of what he had heard, he 
concealed his resentment, and from that day watched them 
carefully. 

" At length he caught them together, and he, with infernal 
cruelty, at once ordered a great fire to be made, and the good 
Lucy to be burnt alive. The sentence was carried out, she 
suffered it with great courage, bearing the burning which put an 
end to her life like a good Christian, praying that God our Lord 



DEATH OF LUCIA AND SEBASTIAN. 



15 



would have mercy upon her and pardon her great sins, and so her 
gentle spirit flew away. Then the cruel savage ordered them to 
kill Sebastian Hurtado ; so he was delivered to a number of 
young men, who tied him hand and foot and then bound him to 
a tree, where he was shot with arrows by these barbarians until 
life was departing ; when, his body all rent and torn, he raised 
his eyes to heaven, imploring our Lord to forgive his sins, and 
so died, and from His mercy we must believe that husband and 
wife are now united in His holy and everlasting glory. 

" All this happened in the year 1532, and was told me by an 
Indian who witnessed it, and was afterwards my servant." 



CHAPTER II. 



CLIMATE INDIANS GREGARIOUS SPIDERS — PIQUES. 

The climate of Paraguay is an important question for foreign- 
ers who may think of visiting it, and one which, but for an 
accident, I should have been able to enter into at some length ; 
for I took careful and systematic observations of the barometer, 
thermometer, pluviometer, and other instruments used by meteor- 
ologists, but my register was unfortunately lost with my instru- 
ments in 1866. 

However, I can give as much information as the general reader 
will care for from memory and the observations of Captain Page, 
U.S.N. This officer gives as the maximum height of thermometer 
95°, Jan. 3rd ; minimum 46°, May 16th. Mean annual range 76° ; 
ditto of barometer 29.67. But I have registered temperatures 
both very much higher and lower than these. In December I 
have frequently seen the thermometer at noon above 100° (up to 
110°) in the shade, and in the winter, that is to say in the months 
of June to August, during the night as low as the freezing point, 
but the latter circumstance is rare. The climate is that of the 
southern Mediterranean coast, but very much damper. The wet- 
ball thermometer often indicated an extraordinary amount of 
moisture in the air ; this would be expected from the immense 
extent of river and marsh surface in the country; and was most 
disagreeably shown by the dampness of rooms which had been 
shut up for a day or two, and the thick coating of fungoid 
growths found upon our clothes, and especially boots, if left in 
them under the same circumstances. The rain-fall averaged 150 



METEOROLOGY. 



17 



inches per annum ; the greatest quantity I measured in one day 
was 7' 85 inches. Storms were very frequent, and deaths from 
lightning by no means uncommon ; on one occasion three men 
and five horses were killed by a single flash. I satisfied myself 
by frequent observation that the electrical discharge most to be 
dreaded was the one from the earth, and I had a good oppor- 
tunity of verifying this opinion by the flash proceeding several 
times from a very circumscribed piece of damp ground near my 
quarters, situated on an excessively arid upland. Usually the 
lightning played almost constantly during the storm from cloud 
to cloud, accompanied by a continual roll of loud thunder ; 
but at intervals of about fifteen minutes there would be a flash 
of blinding intensity, and a perfectly simultaneous crash, more 
deafening than the near report of a battery of heavy artillery. 
This would restore the electrical equilibrium for a time, and 
there would be a temporary lull in the storm, which only gradu- 
ally reached its former violence. Now on two occasions men 
were killed within a few yards of me, and by a flash of this kind, 
and there was no appreciable interval between the discharge 
and the detonation which accompanied it. The odour of ozone 
was remarkably strong each time. The rain meanwhile would 
be pouring down in torrents, and sweeping in a raging flood 
down the steep hill-side. But in an hour or two the sun or 
the stars would shine out brightly, and, except for the deep gul- 
lies torn in the sandy streets, not a trace of the tempest would 
be left. 

The prevailing winds are from the east and north-east ; it 
must be remembered that the ocean and equatorial conditions 
are the reverse of ours, that from the south is often bitterly 
cold, and so dry that it affects the skin most disagreeably. It 
is usually presaged by a sudden fall of half-an-inch or more in 
the barometer, and often blows with extreme violence — a pam- 
pero, as the natives term it. 

I should be departing from my plan if I entered into any 
detailed account of the fauna and flora of Paraguay, and will 
only say that the extraordinary variety and strangeness of both 

2 



18 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PAEAGUAY. 



make the country alike interesting to the naturalist and the 
botanist. I should but disappoint the scientific reader by enter- 
ing slightly upon these subjects, and at the same time I should 
fail to give any adequate idea of the beauty of the trees and 
flowers growing under that fervid tropical sun, and bathed in a 
warm moist air which seems to give them a higher vitality and 
development than they can reach in our colder clime. So I 
shall devote this chapter to a few random notes on these sub- 
jects, referring those who would have fuller information to the 
"Kepublique de la Paraguay" of Du Graty. 

One of the favourite topics of conversation amongst my native 
friends was that of the Indians who roamed, or were supposed 
to roam, in the prairies and woods to the north and east of 
Paraguay ; and I wish I could now recall some of the legends, 
half whimsical, half pathetic, they told me about them ; their 
strange forms, and sometimes terrible, sometimes ludicrous, 
ferocity. 

These were, of course, but idle tales, and the Guaicuru and 
Payagua Indians I saw in Asuncion were but savages of a very 
uninteresting kind indeed ; there is, however, one tribe living in 
the vast woods to the north of Concepcion I should have liked 
to have studied; whilst I was in " seclusion" a few of them 
were brought down to Asuncion, and, as they were attacked by 
small-pox, my friend, Dr. Ehind, enjoyed the opportunity I lost. 
They would seem to be of a very low type. Stunted in growth, 
and with almost black skins, and lean slender limbs, they re- 
minded him painfully of monkeys ; and their intelligence seemed 
to be hardly greater than that of those animals. They neither 
build huts, nor use clothes, nor do they know the use of fire ; 
they live in the woods on fruits and roots, occasionally stealing 
the fowls of the settlers near their domains, and eating them 
uncooked ; and the soldiers told him that if they were put in a 
cattle pen they had no better idea of escaping than oxen would 
have under the same circumstances. They appear to have no 
articulate language, and Senora Leite-Pereira* assured me that 

* Tire wife of the Portuguc se consul. 



GUAIQUI INDIANS. 



19 



she had had two of them (about six years of age when caught) 
some years in her hou.se, but that they could never be taught to 
speak. Several of the men under Dr. Ehind's care died, and 
the women showed their grief by putting their heads between 
their knees, and rolling over and over, around the bodies, utter- 
ing, at the same time, groans and short jerking shrieks. 

I saw a man, when I was a prisoner, standing opposite the 
door of my cell for some time, exactly resembling an ape in 
features ; there was the same muzzle-like projection of jaw, the 
depressed curve between the tip of the nose and the brows, the 
eyes close together, with long tubular upper-lids, which he was 
incessantly winking ; and he grinned and showed his strong 
close teeth when spoken to, just as a tame monkey would. I 
am inclined to think, however, that the G-uaiquis are cretins, 
resulting from the constant, perhaps incestuous, interbreeding 
of a few Indians of a higher type, lost in the woods. But the 
wonderful intelligence, the sad expression, and almost human 
actions of the monkeys on the one hand, and the ape-like fea- 
tures, and mere animal lives of many of the natives on the other, 
affected me most disagreeably. I could never shoot a monkey, 
though the Paraguayans did the Gruaiquis without compunction, 
saying they were not " cristianos," and were incorrigible 
thieves. 

Whilst I was in the U. S. Legation I had an excellent oppor- 
tunity of studying the habits of the gregarious spider, which is 
an apparent exception to the rule that the Araneae are the most 
unsocial and blood-thirsty of animals. These spiders when full 
grown have bodies about half an inch in length, black, with the 
exception of a row of bright red spots on the side of the abdo- 
men, four eyes, remarkably strong mandibles, and stout, almost 
hairless legs, nearly an inch in length. They construct, in con- 
cert, immense webs, often thirty feet long aud eight deep, 
generally between two trees, and ten or twelve feet from the 
ground. 

Across a roadway is a favourite station with them, and when 
so placed the webs are invariably at a sufficient height to allow 



20 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



equestrians and bullock carts to pass beneath; but I could 
generally touch them with my whip, for if too high they would 
have missed the flies and moths, their principal food, which do 
not rise far from the ground. 

In the patio, the grassy courtyard of the Legation, was a 
small garden, the beds bordered with bricks (exactly like one of 
Lord Paulet's in Charles the Second's time, I was reading of the 
other day) and fenced in. It was rarely entered, except by a 
stooping old crone, one of the servants, and the spiders had 
stretched six of these huge nets between a large Cape jasmine 
and a clump of orange and peach trees about forty feet apart. 
They had extended two strong cables, as thick as pack- 
thread, to form the margin of each of the webs, the lower being 
only four feet from the ground, and between them was a light, 
loose network, imperfectly divided into webs, each presenting 
about a square foot of surface. Each of these sub-webs was 
occupied by a spider from sunset till a little after sunrise, the 
six containing, I should say, two thousand of them altogether. 
But they often changed their location, and a double stream was 
always passing along the cables, apparently strengthening them 
as they came and went, and sometimes three or four would be 
lying in wait within a few inches of each other ; but I noticed 
that they always gave the lines a quick, impatient shake when- 
ever a companion left the main rigging, which formed the public 
gangways, and ventured on to the lighter threads. In passing, 
they crawled over or under each other without hesitation, un- 
like beetles and ants, which always pause when they meet. 

Soon after sunrise they left their webs, and retreating to the 
shade formed two or three large masses, under the thick foliage 
of the jasmine ; there they remained motionless till sunset, when 
the black lump crumbled to pieces — it was a curious sight to see 
the process — and then, in a leisurely way, the spiders scattered 
themselves to their aerial fishing. The air swarmed with mos- 
quitoes, which were caught in great numbers, but were too 
small game, and were hastily swept away by the spiders, for 
they made the webs conspicuous. The larger flies, and especially 



GREGARIOUS SPIDERS. 



21 



the moths, were at once pounced upon and devoured by the 
nearest spider, or several of them ; and I have often seen 
half a dozen feeding amicably together on the body of the same 
insect. 

I also satisfied myself that they are not content with merely 
sucking the juices of their prey, but devour the soft parts 
altogether : of moths they would leave but the wings ; of bee- 
tles, all but the abdomen. Their fangs and jaws are greatly 
developed (I have several times allowed them to strike the for- 
mer into my finger, but I felt no pain beyond the slight prick 
as they entered), and are well suited for tearing and com- 
minuting. 

Another peculiarity is, that they swallow any part of their 
web which may be broken or torn by the wind. If such an 
accident occurred, the nearest spider gathered up the loose 
threads, rolled them into a ball, and immediately ate it. I have 
arrested them in the act, and found that the silk had been abun- 
dantly moistened with clear saliva preparatDry to doing so. I 
was long puzzled by the difficulty, how was the first thread, 
often sixty or seventy feet long, thrown from tree to tree ? For 
intervening bushes made it impossible to adopt the native 
theory, that they made fast to one trunk, descended it, travelled 
over the ground to the other, ascended, holding on to the line, 
and then tightened it. I was fortunate enough, one day, to see 
how it was accomplished. There was an arch of iron work over 
the mouth of the algibe, to hold the bucket-chain, and I saw a 
spider perched upon it, busily forming a loose, light ball of silk, 
nearly as large as its own body, which was soon borne away by 
the wind, and caught in the leaves of a neighbouring tree ; when 
the spider after a time tightened it, and then hastily crossed 
back and forth on the line, adding to its thickness on each jour- 
ney, until it was strong enough to support a web. If the 
weather were wet or windy, they remained huddled together 
until it cleared up, and the next day the webs which had been 
blown away were replaced.* Several others had been thrown 
* The main lines were rarely blown away, so this was easily done. 



22 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



from the trunk of one tree to another, in the grounds ; all high 
enough for the horses to pass underneath ; but although I 
several times demolished those in the garden, they were invari- 
ably woven as low as before. They were tenanted about two 
months, and then every spider suddenly disappeared ; but I 
found soon afterwards, under the leaves of the trees, several 
large bags of eggs, evidently left by them. 

I have said that these traits — working in concert, and meeting 
without fighting — are but apparent exceptions to the general 
rule ; for I am of opinion that whilst they thus labour amicably 
together they are immature, and that so soon as the reproduc- 
tive function is developed, the usual ferocity of the order 
appears. There is then a sanguinary battle ; the few survivors, 
all females probably, devour some of the slain, provide for a 
future brood, and then die also. I think so, because they are 
all of one size in the same web, crowd together to sleep exactly 
as young spiders generally do,* and they disappear sudd nly, 
leaving no stragglers behind them. I could find no remains of 
the slain, I must admit ; but the activity of the swarming ants, 
those scavengers of hot climates, would account for that. 

There are two wasps which provide in a most singular way 
for the wants of their future brood. One, a large and extremely 
handsome insect, forms rude pitchers of earth roughly massed 
together, in which it deposits its eggs, and fills the space above 
with living spiders, stung, however, so that they are completely 
paralyzed. I found from ten to fifteen in each receptacle, and 
all of one kind, with large bodies and short legs, which would, 
therefore, give the greatest amount of nutriment in the smallest 
space. The grub of the wasp feeds upon them until it passes 
into the chrysalis state. The other, a smaller insect, beautifully 
banded with black and yellow, builds up most elegant little 
vases of sand and mucus, supported on slender stems, but filled 
in the same horrible manner. 

* All must have noticed that spiders for some days or weeks after being 
hatched remain on friendly terms together, and spin an irregular web com- 
mon to all. 




Sand Flea [Pulex Penetrans). 




iod inch 
I i 



e ssr 



Sand Flea distended with eggs. 



SAND FLEAS. 



25 



It is singular, also, that a true wasp there stores up honey 
in cells formed of resin. 

There was a question I tried to clear up : why does the pique, 
chigoe or sand-flea (Pulex penetrans), bury its eggs beneath the 
skin of living animals ? " Ce vilain insecte," as Du Grraty calls 
it, is very minute, not exceeding one -twenty fifth of an inch in 
length; it burrows beneath the skin, or rather between the 
cuticle and true skin, and there, as is commonly supposed, lays 
its eggs, producing a swelling containing a bluish- white sac, 
about the tenth or the eighth of an inch in diameter, filled with 
them. But I find that the case is not so simple, the sac is not 
merely a bag of eggs, but is the developed abdomen of the flea, 
which preserves its vitality after the death of the rest of the 
parent ; and when that event takes place, the eggs are mere 
germs which ordinarily would perish at the same time. 

Under the microscope the sand-flea presents a marked differ- 
ence to the common flea ( P. domesticus J : its head and thorax 
are welded together, the first pair of legs by no means so de- 
veloped, and there is an appendage to the anal extremity, armed 
with double hooked forceps. Its cutting apparatus consists of 
two scimitar- shaped lancets placed in a common sheath, with 
which it slices out a space beneath the skin, large enough to 
bury itself entirely, anchors firmly by its hook, and in a day or 
two dies. But the abdominal section still lives ; it absorbs 
nutritive material through its walls, and grows rapidly at the 
expense of the serum poured out by the irritated skin into which 
it is inserted ; it increases in thickness as well as in diameter ; 
strong ligamentous bands are developed in it, and, more curious 
still, the eggs which now fill it grow also, enlarging their tough 
membraneous envelopes at the same rate, and the mature eggs 
are each of them fully half as large as the perfect flea. 

The reason why it does not form and deposit its eggs like the 
rest of the family I believe to be this ; that in its ordinary 
habitat, the sand, it finds no food ; that it takes away with it 
on leaving the eggs all it needs for its own development, but not 
sufficient to provide for a new brood, and that only those females 



26 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



which can succeed in lodging themselves beneath the skin can 
produce fertile eggs. The males I have never met with ; I expect 
they die as soon as they have performed their part in creation. 

I examined great numbers of the fleas, to establish these 
points, when I was waiting for the police to arrest me, and I 
was fortunate in finding a subject which interested me so much. 
Apart from the scientific interest attached to them, they are 
simply a great nuisance, and neglected children suffer a good 
deal from them ; so do the dogs, who almost tear their feet to 
pieces in biting them out, and often they get into their lips and 
outer nostrils, from which of course they cannot dislodge them. 

El Tigre, the tiger of Paraguay, the jaguar of naturalists, is 
a most formidable animal, both for its size and untamable fero- 
city. I never measured their dimensions exactly, but I had a 
rectangular mat fully six feet in length cut from the skin of one 
without the head. One was kept alive in the capital for some 
time, and fed upon stray dogs caught in the streets by the 
police. In Humaita, Lopez had two, both immense brutes, 
in a cage near the cable- capstans. It is said that three Brazil- 
ians, supposed to be spies, were thrown alive to them. The story 
is very likely to be true ; and even such a death would be a 
most merciful one compared with those endured by others caught 
and charged with the same offence. 

I saw there, also, a fine specimen of the lion, or puma, as it 
should be called ( Felis Caguar) ; an animal very easily tamed, 
and then almost as docile as a dog. The one in question used 
to walk about the camp as he pleased. He took part in a lu- 
dicrous scene one night. 

One of my friends had an almost morbid fear of tigers. Once, 
when engaged surveying in the esteros near Villa Oliva, he had 
to camp out far from any house ; he sent his native servants in 
search of food, and lying down near his picketed horses, went 
to sleep ; he was awakened by the latter straining at the sogas 
to break away ; he tried in vain to soothe them, and at length, 
snapping the strong hide ropes, they galloped off at their ut- 
most speed. He suspected a tiger must have frightened them, 



THE PUMA. 



27 



and might return ; so he built a large fire, and keeping within its 
glare fired shots from his revolver at intervals as a signal of dis- 
tress. His position was certainly a trying one ; his servants had 
apparently forgotten his whereabouts ; there was not a tree nor 
a house for miles, to travel the ester o on foot was a task the 
hardiest of pedestrians would have shirked, and the danger from 
snakes was serious and far greater than that from tigers, which 
never, to my knowledge, attacked a man ; but the tardy morning 
came at last, and his servants also. After this adventure the 
very name of a tiger was sufficient to disturb his equanimity, and 
every large animal imperfectly seen assumed the shape of one. 

Close to the quarters of Lopez was a narrow passage between 
two walls, and late one night my friend was passing through it, 
carrying a lantern. Half-way its light fell upon two glaring eye- 
balls, and an unmistakable growl saluted his ears. Forgetting 
all about the puma — indeed, all else than that wretched night in 
the ester o — he dropped the lantern, gave an involuntary yell, 
fled for very life across the patio, and rushed breathlessly into the 

quarters of Dr. . The puma very composedly trotted after 

him, contemplating with amazement the singular spectacle of a 
stout middle-aged gentleman fleeing with more than the tradi- 
tional speed of a lamplighter, but without his lantern, across 
the moonlit courtyard. 

Several tiger cats and an ocelot are found in Paraguay, all 
with very beautifully marked skins. The natives have made a 
singular blunder in naming the larger animal : they call it Ya- 
guarete, that is, the big dog, Yaguar being the Guarani for the 
latter ; but they name the others correctly, Mbaracaya, that being 
the name given to cats generally. 

A fine wolf, with a handsome black mane ( Canis ruber? J, I 
have once seen, and foxes are plentiful. 

Du Graty mentions three species of monkeys, one three feet 
high ; but I have only seen very much smaller ones. 

The most remarkable animals, however, are the anteater and 
the carpincha. The former reaches a large size : the girls use 
its stiff mane -bristles for piercing their ears, believing that a 



28 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

puncture so made is not liable to inflammation. The latter is 
the Capybyra palustris, or Sits hydro chser us. Linn. It is the 
largest of existing rodents, and is a most singular animal. Its 
quick and yet clumsy gait, and its droll truncated face, one can 
scarcely look at without laughing. I had one for some time ; 
it was so fond of warmth that it used to singe off its fur by 
creeping too close to the kitchen fire, made, as usual, on the 
ground ; and at length burnt itself to death. It is obliged to 
triturate its food — grass and herbaceous plants — for a long time, 
for the oasophagus is so contracted that it will hardly admit a 
goose quill, although the animal sometimes weighs more than 
two hundred pounds. Its destiny seems to be to feed tigers, 
for they live principally upon them. 

There is another rodent, the Tapiti buruchd, or chinchilla, 
very common in the fields and esteros. I tamed one, and had 
it running about my room ; but like most pets it came to an 
untimely end. I tried all kinds, from alligators to tapiti s, from 
the most blindly ferocious to the gentlest and most timid of 
animals, and with very variable success. 

The Cuati (Viverra Piasua) I found the most amusing of them 
all : restless as a monkey, but without that pathetic seeming of a 
lower humanity shown by the latter, it was ever leaping and 
climbing, now and then pretending to go to sleep for a moment, 
but with its sharp little eyes sparkling under its brown fur, and 
springing up like a squirrel, which it strongly resembles, if the 
slightest sound caught its ear. It used to leap on my shoulder, 
and, twining its long prehensile tail round my neck as a support, 
drive its sharp flexible snout into my pockets in rapid succession, 
in search of something to eat. 

I had, for a few weeks, a fine specimen of the great heron, 
Tuyuyu in Guar am, that is, one which walks in the mud. He 
was nearly five feet in height, and with a bill more than a foot 
in length. I kept him tied with a hide rope, with a heavy 
paving brick fastened to the end of it. One day, frightened by 
a peon suddenly galloping into the courtyard, he flew off with 
the soya and brick ; and the latter, striking the wall, broke off 



THE CASCADE OF THE SEVEN FALLS. 



29 



and nearly killed a soldier who was lying asleep under it. He 
flew across the river, into the Gran Chaco, the rope streaming 
in the wind behind. 

To a sportsman Paraguay offers a thousand temptations : herds 
of deer roam in the open glades between the rivulets and the 
forests ; droves of wild pigs are found in their leafy depths ; 
partridges like our own, and another, Ynambit guazil, as large 
as a pheasant, and Mutus, quails, larger still, are seen in flocks 
in the esteros, with snipe and wild pigeons, the latter surpassing 
in flavour anything of the kind I have ever tasted. 

Should he be a man of an adventurous spirit, there are the 
great falls of the Parana, El salto de Guyra, in lat. 24° 6' S., 
which no European has seen for more than a century, and which 
for magnificence must rival Niagara itself. He would find diffi- 
culties sufficient to give the zest of danger to such a journey, 
and mountain, forest, and river scenery grand and wild enough 
to satisfy the most blase seeker of the picturesque. He could 
journey easily from Asuncion to Villa Kica, and crossing the 
Cordilleras of Caaguazu, cut his way through the virgin forests 
on their flanks to the waters of the Rio Mondai, and then float 
down its rapid stream for a hundred miles to the foot of the 
great falls, the half- mythical Salto de las seite caidas. On his 
way he might meet some Guyracui Indians, who have short tails, 
they say, of inconvenient stiffness, necessitating the wearers to 
carry a pointed stick, with which they make a hole in the ground 
in order to sit down conveniently. But at any rate he should 
carry a good rifle, and have a few companions armed in the 
same way ; for other tribes he would certainly meet with are 
expert, and by no means particular, in the use of poisoned 
arrows. At night, that wonderful bird, the Ipegtata, might be 
seen flying like a meteor over the tallest trees, and illuminating 
them with a brighter light than that of the full moon ; for does 
it not feed on fire-flies, and exhibit in an intensified form their 
marvellous brilliancy ? 

The countless islands of the Parana he would find swarming 
with tigers of the royalest dimensions ; and if he came upon 



30 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



tapirs as large as I have seen them, he might make a " bag" 
such as a Gordon Cumming would envy. 

The natives say that armadillos of extraordinary size are 
found in the yerbales, but I have not seen a specimen. There 
is one with every scale of its armour fringed with stiff hairs. 

Snakes are numerous, but the danger from them is exaggerated 
by the natives ; several of those brought to me as most venom- 
ous I found had no poison fangs at all. I have been assured 
that it is hazardous, however, to attempt to gather the wild 
vanilla which grows on the Upper Paraguay, because its scent 
attracts the rattlesnakes. 

Lizards are common, and some are of large size. I found their 
lungs worthy of study, exhibiting, as is well known, a most 
simple form of breathing apparatus, scarcely more developed, 
indeed, than that of insects. The iguana, for instance, has two 
perfectly undivided membraneous sacs, on the internal surface 
of which the pulmonary blood vessels ramify, and absorb through 
then thin walls the oxygen of the air, which enters by the wide 
trachea. It is, in fact, a single cell of a human lung greatly 
magnified. The natives make a singular use of them ; they put 
the liver of the reptile, which is loaded with fat, into them, and 
hang them in the sun until the oil flows out. This they believe 
to be a sovereign remedy for sprains and bruises, exactly as 
goose-grease is still regarded by rustics in England.* The tail 
of the iguana is esteemed as a great luxury, cooked, like came 
con cuaro, in its own skin. But I am not fond of gastronomic 
experiments, and never tried it. 

The natives showed extraordinary courage in attacking tigers 
of the largest size, armed only with a knife, and guarded but by 
a poncho. Two men usually went together, with a few yelping 
curs to bring the tiger to bay. Then one of the men, rolling hit 

* This is not to be wondered at, when we find Captain Page, U. S. N., in his 
"La Plata,'' gravely recording the ridiculous story that "The vast growth of 
sarsaparilla on the borders of this river (the Rio Negro, Uruguay) discolours 
its waters, and at the same time imparts to them such medicinal properties that 
invalids resort to Mercedes for the benefit of their curative power." 



KILLING TIGERS. 



31 



woollen poncho over his left arm, and with his long, keen- 
pointed knife in his right hand, met the infuriated animal as he 
made his spring, and drove his weapon between the vertebrae of 
its neck, generally with unerring aim. Should he miss, his 
companion comes to his assistance, and in a moment the huge 
brute would lie disabled at their feet. But the more usual mode 
of destroying them was, catching them in large wooden cages 
with sliding doors, like an old-fashioned rat-trap, and then kill- 
ing them by a thrust with a lance. 



CHAPTER III. 



ASUNCION PUBLIC BUILDINGS STREETS RELIGION. 

Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, is situated in latitude 25° 16' 
29" south, and longitude 57° 20' 53" west. It is built on a 
gentle slope, which rises from the river for about a mile, and 
then falls gradually away to the south, but reaches a higher 
elevation beyond the town in the opposite direction. Before 
the war the population was about twenty thousand. 

From the river it makes but a poor appearance, owing to the 
absence of lofty buildings, and as the houses are rarely more 
than one story — a ground-floor — in height, there is little to be 
seen from a distance but red-tiled roofs, with here and there 
a wiiite-washed mirador rising above them. There was but one 
really handsome building, the Palacio, built by Don Francisco 
Solano Lopez for his own residence, but destined to be never 
occupied by him. 

The quay, the first point seen by a traveller, showed but 
little appearance of business, and except for a few lounging sol- 
diers or smoking market women, was often nearly deserted, and 
the ships seemed to be rotting at their moorings, rather than 
taking in or discharging cargo. Yet there was a considerable 
trade carried on in an idle, irregular way. 

The wharves, being built on the outside of a bend which the 
river makes there, are being gradually abandoned by its waters, 
the opposite bank is compensatingly eaten away by the current, 
and the channel will soon be far from the city. A hundred 
years ago the landing-place was more than a mile above its present 



ASUNCION. 



33 



site. Now it is far from the business part of the town (for the 
merchants have not retreated with the river), with a sandy waste, 
a shallow muddy brook, and a dilapidated bridge intervening. 

To the right, as one lands, is the Arsenal, a large unfinished 
building, with a number of rough sheds clustered around it. 
The engines, machines, and materials all came from England, 
and the work was directed and principally performed by Eng- 
lishmen. The chief engineer, Mr. W. Whytehead, was a man/ 
of remarkable skill and administrative ability ; his death, in the' 
first year of the war, was an irreparable loss to Lopez. 

Above it, on a gentle eminence, stands the Hospital, a long 
low building, with a colonnade of heavy pillars in front, and a 
red-tiled roof. In a line with it, but overlooking the river, is a 
brick battery, which used to mount eight guns, and is the one 
attacked by the iron-clads in 1868 ; lower down is a formidable 
earth-work. The unfortunate hospital is so placed regarding 
these defences that a shot missing either of them was pretty 
sure to pass through some part of it. At the other extremity 
of the river-wall is another battery, a brick casemate, well and 
solidly built. Close to the latter is the Aduana or Custom-house, > 
which, like all else in the country, is unfinished, and is, more- 
over, so hideous, that one can only regret that it was ever 
commenced. The ground on which it is built slopes at an angle 
of about ten degrees, and, as a Paraguayan sees no beauty in, 
nor necessity for, level lines, the whole front of the very long 
building follows the slope of the ground ! To make matters 
worse, there is not a single break or projection to hide the 
defect, and the piazza, with its twenty-two arches and heavy 
cornice, looks as if it were sliding into the river. 

To an Englishman, who cannot bear to see even a picture 
hung awry, the indifference which the Paraguayans show in 
their houses and streets to levels and symmetry is very curious. 
In a row of windows, one or two would be higher or wider than 
the rest to a certainty, and in the cornices of rooms, the pat- 
terns of wall paper, and panelled woodwork, the same glaring 
,defect is met with. 

3 



34 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



On the other hand, the streets themselves are laid out with 
the utmost regularity as regards plan, always crossing each 
other rectangularly and at equal distances. The squares, or 
madras, thus formed, are built upon externally, the centre being 
occupied by domestic offices and sometimes by gardens. 

The better streets near the river are well built ; the roadway 
is but sand, it is true, but there is a pretty good foot pavement for 
the greater part of their length, the houses have a respectable appear- 
ance, and some attempts have been made at architectural display. 
But the higher part of the town is intersected by several ravines, 
which have only been filled up here and there ; and in wet 
weather each becomes a lake, or the bed of a torrent, and then 
it is often difficult, for several hours, to visit one's opposite 
neighbour. 

With a few exceptions, the houses consist but of a ground- 
floor, and are generally built of adobes, sun-dried bricks, of about 
the form and size of Eoman tiles. I was greatly struck, 
when I first entered Asuncion, with the remarkably Pompeii-like 
appearance of many of the old Spanish houses. The panelled 
external walls decorated with pilasters in low relief, and coloured 
a delicate buff or violet, the wide and lofty doorway, not open- 
ing into the house, but into a broad vestibule, and showing the 
pillared courtyard beyond ; the roof, covered with semi-cylin- 
drical tiles in two layers, the handsome reception rooms, and 
the miserable, often windowless bedrooms, the dark and sooty 
kitchen with its earthen fireplace, the arrangements for an 
almost out-of-door life, and the absence of those domestic con- 
veniences which make the old Eoman dwellings seem to us so 
comfortless — all gave me the idea that one sees there the homes 
of eighteen hundred years ago reproduced with almost perfect 
exactness. The Moorish algibe, it is true, has taken the place of 
the Roman compluvium : the graceful decorations, the wall 
paintings, are wanting ; it is a Pompeian house as the builder 
left it, and which the artist has never entered. But, like the 
sonorous tones of the Spanish language, it carries one's thoughts 
back to those old-world days, and but little aid from the ima- 



KELKHON. 



35 



gination is needed to bring them with almost startling reality 
again before us. 

I have often thought, too, that the debased Eomanism prac- 
tised in Paraguay (and in S. America generally) must be very 
like the old heathen worship, as it would have been seen in some 
remote district or mountain hamlet of the empire, where rude 
images would be worshipped with ruder rites, by rustics who had 
half forgotten, or never understood their original meaning. 

Religion in Paraguay is Christian only in name ; practically 
it is but a bare idolatry, a fetish worship. The priests are ig- 
norant and immoral, great cockfighters and gamblers, possessing 
vast influence over the women, a power which they turn to the 
basest of purposes, but they are little respected by the men.* 

The favourite idol is the Yirgin, an incongruous compound 
of Venus and Diana, but with scarce a trace of the poetical 
beauty of her antitypes. A virgin mother with the air of a 
courtezan, a poor, wooden-looking queen seated on a half 
moon, crowned with stars, and dressed in tawdry, paltry finery, 
is there worshipped, and feted, and grovelled in the dust 
before, whilst, except in salutations or expletives, the name of 
our Lord is never heard. I verily believe that, if the words of 
the catechism did not unconsciously recur to them, they would 
reply, if asked of the creation, that "La Virgin Maria" made 
the world and all around it. And she often takes most literally 
the place of the Paphian Queen. A Paraguayan Phryne, instead 
of begging a necklace for her Venus, caressingly asks a golden 
rosary for the image of La Santisima. 

But to resume our tour of the town. The public buildings 
are few in number, and, with the exception of an unfinished 
church designed by an Italian, very paltry in appearance. The 

* One day a friend of mine was talking with Mrs. Lynch and Bishop 
Palacios, whilst her children were playing with the figures out of a Noah's 
ark; presently one little fellow commenced crying because he could find 
two only of the patriarch's sons. Mrs. Lynch scolded him, and told him 
to take more care of them, but the Bishop turned to her, and said in his bland- 
est tones, and with an air of paternal correction, " Pardon me, senora, there 
could not have been three, for Noah had only two sons, Cain and Abel." 



38 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



facade of the cathedral, and of the church of San Koque, is 
carried up to a great height above the roof, in order to give 
them an adventitious loftiness, which disappears most ludicrously 
when viewed from behind. The Cabildo, or town-hall, is a 
tasteless two-storied building, used for the Beso-manos or levees 
of the President. A new theatre, designed by the same Italian 
architect, was half built when I reached the country, and so it 
still remains ; in fact, it would be too large for the population 
for a century to come, and the architect frankly confessed to Mr. 
Whytehead that he was unable to roof it. Lopez had a most 
childlike habit of going into any new scheme with wonderful 
ardour, but soon getting tired of it, and trying something else. 
Thus, he had a palace, a new church, a railway, a new arsenal, 
a new custom-house, a post-office, and a plan for a fine block 
of government offices and an esplanade, all commenced, and 
none finished, when, in fact, any one or two of them was quite 
as much as he could properly manage at once ; and the result 
is, that the hastily constructed front of the railway- station is 
already crumbling to pieces, the massive-looking cornices of the 
Aduana were half demolished by a heavy hail-storm, and remain 
so, and the theatre is a mere wilderness of lofty walls and arches. 
There was a so-called Public Library, but the books were nearly 
all theological, and I never heard of any one reading there. 
Lopez found, however, a most characteristic use for them : he 
had the ponderous tomes cut up for rocket and squib cases ! I 
saw them one day serving thus a folio Hebrew Bible, with an 
interleaved Latin translation — a most South American mode of 
diffusing useful knowledge. 

The windows of the houses, throughout the country, as in 
South America generally, are guarded by strong iron gratings, 
giving them a most prison-like appearance ; and the shutters 
and doors, with their fastenings, are of singularly ponderous 
maie. 

But I like these old Spanish houses, with their massive walls 
more than a yard in thickness, lofty rooms, and doorways so 
wide and high that one could ride in without stooping, and dis- 



THE MAEKET-PLACE. 



37 



mount in the sola itself, if so minded. Their heavy roofs, 
supported by beams of enormous size, the small, deeply-recessed 
windows, the broad piazza, were all thoroughly suited to the 
climate, excluding the heat, and subduing the light, in a manner 
that was inexpressibly grateful after riding at mid- day through 
the streets of glaring white houses, or over roads of sparkling 
sand. But, unfortunately, one of the results of the ostentation 
and extravagance introduced by Francisco Lopez was a fondness 
for a meretricious style of house-building of the most flimsy and 
pretentious character. The fronts of the houses were carried 
up to a great height above the eaves ; very large windows, with 
the inevitable reja or grating, became the fashion, in order that 
the furniture and carpet of the sola might be readily seen by 
passers-by, and all interior comfort, even stability itself, was 
sacrificed to obtain a showy front to the street. 

Nearly in the centre of the town is the Plaza, or market-place, 
a large square surrounded by low one-storied houses used as 
shops. They had, however, no windows for the display of the 
goods within, the wide doorway serving both for entrance and 
the admission of light. Being at the lower part of the town, 
and quite undrained, half the space was a foetid marsh; there* 
the carts of the country people were ranged in rows, whilst the 
produce was displayed for sale on the higher ground beyond. 
Most of the sellers were women, and on a busy day the sight 
was a very pretty one ; for the strange intermingling of colour, 
which in obedience to a tropical instinct was shown in their 
clothing, and made the more vivid, but never glaring, by its 
contrast with their snowy twpois and raven hair, produced an 
effect quite kaleidoscopic in brilliancy and changefulness. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PARAGUAYANS NATIONAL COSTUME EDUCATION. 

The Paraguayans are Indio- Spanish in blood, and descended 
from the several tribes which inhabited the country before the 
conquest and which intermingled with their Spanish invaders, 
and of a few Spaniards who had preserved their blood untainted, 
and married only amongst themselves. Therefore in speaking 
of the Paraguayans as a people, it must always be remembered 
that the upper and lower classes were almost distinct races ; the 
former differed in little, save the antique Castilian they spoke, 
from their countrymen in Europe ; they were Creoles, that is, the 
descendants of Spaniards born in the colony ; not mestizos, as 
.the children of Europeans and Indians should properly be 
called, and which formed the bulk of the population, and were, 
I take it, the Paraguayans proper. 

The latter are below the average height of Englishmen, 
but well developed, with broad chests and muscular extremities ; 
head, rather small ; face, round ; nose, short, somewhat flat ; 
cheek-bones, very prominent ; hair, strong, black, thick, and 
straight ; iris, dark, and conjuntiva, yellowish ; with little hair 
on the face or body ; and skin, olive to dark brown. 

They showed a remarkable endurance of cold, far greater than 
we. One very cold day I was riding, wrapped in a thick over- 
coat to shelter me from the bitter south wind, when I met a 
native sauntering unconcernedly along with his poncho barely 
covering his shoulders, and I asked him if he were not cold. 
" Is your face cold, senor ? " replied he. "No." "Then 
why should my body be ? " 



PARAGUAYANS. 



39 



The women, when young, are often very pretty ; their slender 
graceful figures, large lustrous eyes, to which long lashes give 
an air of languid gentleness, and thick tresses of jetty blackness, 
produce a style of beauty which harmonizes well with the bril- 
liant flowers and sunny skies of their native land. But like 
them they soon fade, and having little or no education, no ac- 
complishments to fall back upon, their charms are soon gone 
for ever ; and the early age at which they become mothers 
often hastens this premature decay. 

Their complexions are usually dark olive, but I have often 
seen Paraguayans of pure native descent — that is to say, with- 
out any recent mixture of European blood — of remarkable fair- 
ness ; rubias they are termed. I have met with some as fair as 
ourselves, with blue eyes and yellow hair ; descended from 
Biscayans, I expect. 

The dress of the men is similar to that of the gauchos of 
Buenos Ayres. Fringed drawers, a kind of kilt of white cotton, 
a broad belt, or rather double apron of dressed leather ; a white 
shirt, often handsomely embroidered, and a poncho, which is 
simply a piece of woollen cloth about two yards square with a 
hole in the centre to put the head through. A straw hat, and 
enormous silver spurs, weighing perhaps two pounds apiece, 
and worn on the bare feet, complete the costume. 

In the capital, all who could afford it wore European dress, 
and they showed a great weakness for patent-leather boots ; 
that article of dress being a distinctive one, the phrase gente 
calzada,* or the reverse, being often used to indicate the upper 
or lower classes. 

The dress of the women is very simple, but remarkably be- 
coming. A long cotton chemise, called a tupoi, cut very low in 
the neck, with a deep border of embroidery, in black or scar- 
let wool, to its upper edge, and loose lace sleeves, and a skirt of 
muslin or silk, puffed out by stiffly starched petticoats, and fas- 
tened round the waist by a broad sash. Except in the capital, 
very few wore shoes. 

* People with shoes. 



40 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



They dress their hair in two long plaits, sometimes worn 
wreath-like around the head, or else simply rolled at the back, 
and fastened by a large tortoise-shell comb, heavy with gold and 
jewels. Arose, or a plume of soft silky leaves worn droopingly, 
would be sufficient to complete their very pretty head-dress. 
Large ear-rings of native workmanship, and so long as to rest 
on the shoulders, one or more massive gold chains around the 
neck, and rings enough to cover every finger, were added on 
gala days. 

This costume has, however, almost gone out of fashion 
amongst the wealthier families, and a peyneta-de-oro, or golden 
comb, now means a woman of the lower class. The change is 
to be regretted, for the old dress is extremely picturesque and 
well suited to the climate. 

It is singular that the language of the conquered, and not of the 
conquerors, was alone spoken by the people amongst themselves. 
With us, and in the presence of foreigners generally, the better 
classes spoke Spanish ; but the bulk of the people used Guarani, 
and understood no other. The phrase " mother-tongue," had 
there its full significance ; for it was only during adolescence 
that children of even the best families learnt Castilian. 

I have mentioned how much some of the houses reminded me 
of those of Pompeii. The resemblance became almost an illu- 
sion if sitting, when night was falling, in a saloon dusky with 
shadow, I saw a servant, clad in a tupoi falling from her shoulders 
in snowy folds, the whiter from the black arabesques on its edge, 
bearing a vase- shaped water -jar on her head, and with rounded 
pendant arms, elastic and silent step, passing through the pil- 
lared corridor. I could almost believe that a caryatide had left 
her heavier burden, and had come, in living flesh, before me. 

Children of both sexes are very wisely allowed to go quite 
naked, except in cold weather, until eight or ten years of age. 
The girls of the lower class are taught to carry water-jars on 
their heads as soon as they can walk steadily ; when grown up 
they scarcely ever carry a burden in any other mode. I have 
often seen women swiftly threading their way through the 



a paintee's model. 



41 



crowded market-place with a bottle of wine thus poised on the 
head, and as safely carried as if it were in a basket. 

I one day saw a charming study: a child of about eight years 
of age coming up from the springs, without her cantaro, but 
evidently thinking that she still carried it, bearing a long plume 
of white nardo blossoms in her hand and sloping over her 
shoulders, like a pictured St. Catherine ; the setting sun, the 
broad waste of glowing sand, lay behind her, a golden back- 
ground to the graceful figure of the little maiden as she passed 
me, with her large melancholy eyes fixed abstractedly on a cot- 
tage before her. 

I cannot recall ever having seen Paraguayan children at play, 
I mean engaged in a regular game ; and toys seem to be almost 
unknown amongst them. I got from England some dolls and other, 
playthings for distribution amongst some of my little friends ; 
but the latter were first called "ipoinaite" (very pretty), and then 
broken to pieces from sheer inability to get any amusement out 
of them, whilst the dolls were at once appropriated by the elders, 
and soon appeared as most gorgeous and fashionable saints. 
One Christmas-eve there was in the cathedral a side-altar decked 
out as a pesebre, that is, a manger, with the contents of a " Noah's 
Ark" arranged to represent the procession of the Magi; Shem, 
Ham, and Japheth, in their cylindrical wooden coats, doing duty 
for the three kings. 

The children of both sexes learn to smoke cigars almost as 
soon as they could walk alone, and the boys to gamble as soon 
as they can talk together. These vices pf their elders take the 
place of the more natural amusements of the young. 

Once I found a group of children busily engaged in burying a 
live baby ; they had scooped a hole in the middle of the road, 
and had covered the little creature as far as its neck. It looked 
somewhat scared, as might have been expected, but lay quietly 
enoughin the warm sand. Two orthreeof their companions, about 
five years old — too old, I suppose, to take part in such childish 
amusements — were sitting on the edge of the path, smoking their 
cigars and watching the proceedings with the utmost gravity. 



42 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 

Next to smoking and sipping yerba (the native tea), the great 
amusement, one may almost say business, of Paraguayans is 
dancing, and I never met with people who devoted themselves 
so thoroughly to its enjoyment. One reason why the seiioritas 
like it so much is, perhaps, that it is the only opportunity they 
have of listening freely to their admirers; for at all other times 
they are subjected to the strictest surveillance by their mothers 
and aunts — I am sorry to add, not without good reason ; so 
much so, that before marriage one can scarcely speak to them 
for a minute alone, and they never walk in the streets with their 
male friends, *not even with their brothers.* But at the public 
balls, the duefias sit in the ante-room by themselves. I often 
pitied the poor old ladies : they could not even smoke, and 
seemed to watch their charges at a distance so anxiously. How- 
ever, they had their turn at supper, when they not only ate all 
they possibly could, but carried off all they were able. I actu- 
ally saw one stout matron maraud an entire pagoda of barley- 
sugar some two feet high ; and roast fowls were pocketed with 
the utmost coolness. 

I have mentioned that the women, except a few of the higher 
classes, are quite uneducated, so much so that it is rare to find one 
who can read and write. The men, however, nearly all do so. 
In each town and village there was a primary school supported 
by the Government, where the boys were taught these simple 
accomplishments and the easier rules of arithmetic ; but I never 
met with a native who could do properly a sum in compound 
division, and the facility with which we, the foreigners in the 

* One native lady paid us Englishmen a great compliment. I frequently 
accompanied her and her daughters — very pretty girls, by the way — in their 
evening rides from her house in the capital to the quinta, a mile or two out of 
ii ; one day she said to me, " You know, Don Federico, that it is not the cus- 
tom in this country for young ladies to ride alone with gentlemen ; but my 
nephew, Captain Fernandez, who has been in England, has given me so high 
an opinicn of your countrymen, that I shall be glad if you will accompany 
mine whenever you please.'' I was intensely amused, and I think they were 
also, with the horror and astonishment shown in the face of an ancient spinster 
aunt, when she met her nieces and me riding together a few days afterwards. 



NATIVE AEITHMETIC. 



43 



service, handled figures was a source of never-ending wonder to 
them. 

Shortly after my arrival in Asuncion I went to the Treasury 
to draw my pay, and as it was the first time I had seen el Senor 
Colector, I took a translation of my contract with me, and a 
statement of the sum I required. I found him in the pay-office, 
a room about ten feet square, but very lofty, with whitewashed 
walls and a ceiling of rough palm trunks, festooned with cob- 
webs, and with a huge white-ant's nest in one corner. In the 
centre was a baize-covered table, very dirty and inky, and be- 
hind it sat the paymaster, a mild-looking old gentleman, very 
brown, and wearing an air of perpetual perplexity. At his side 
were two clerks, in the light civilian costume of the country. 
On the table was a pile of treasury notes, an inkstand full of 
flies, some very scratchy steel pens, and the inevitable sand 
box ; in the rear was an open cedra* trunk containing a few 
books, a heap of silver dollars, and a tray of dull, heavy gold 
doubloons. At the door, guarding the whole, stood a sentry, 
clad in red baize, with a hat made of leather and brass, shaped 
like and strongly resembling a child's drum, who first glared at 
me with ferocious hauteur, and then, as I did not take off my 
hat to him as a native would have done, saluted me with great 
humility. I shook hands with the paymaster, gave him the 
papers, accepted a cigar and a chair, and waited for them to 
verify my statement, and pay me the money. It is scarcely 
credible, but they were actually more than an hour trying to do 
the simple sum of dividing so many dollars and rials by twelve. 
I could scarcely help laughing outright to see them figuring in 
hopeless perplexity on the official whity-brown paper, whilst to 
add to the absurdity of the scene some idlers volunteered to assist 
them, and showed wonderful and intricate modes of calculation, 
unknown to Cocker ; and even the sentry, fired with generous 
ardour, put down his clumsy flint-lock, and scrawled fearful nu- 

* The Cedra tree, a variety of mahogany, has been very naturally, from the 
similarity in their names, confounded with the cedar, which it resembles only 
in the colour of its wood. 



44 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



merals with the stump of a pen, to explain how he calculated 
his pay, about a dollar a month, when he got it, poor fellow, 
which was not very often. 

I sat with my chair tipped up Paraguayan fashion, listening 
to the band playing in the Plaza ; and when they tendered me 
wild shots at the amount, which they did occasionally, I told 
them quietly I wanted so many dollars, and should wait till I 
got them. At length, when my patience was pretty well ex- 
hausted, I saw the surgeon-major crossing the square, and he 
was kind enough to come to my help, and assure them that they 
might trust in my arithmetic, and I received the sum I had 
claimed. 

In the Plaza I have often seen the country people reckoning 
up the price of a sack of maize with the aid of red and white 
grains of it ; the former representing dollars, the latter rials, or 
sixpences. Arithmetic is essentially a science indicative of cul- 
ture and civilization, and we always find, I believe, amongst 
races still in a semi- savage state, although outwardly polished, 
either an inability to express a high number, or an extreme 
vagueness in the use of the terms employed. In Guarani there 
are only cardinals as far as four, abt)ve that number the Para- 
guayans used Spanish integers ; but I often noticed how little 
they were able to realize the amount they represented ; a thou- 
sand or a million would seem to them only as a great many, 
and a great many more. 



CHAPTER V. 



SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF PARAGUAY — FRAN CIA CARLOS 

LOPEZ STORY OF CARLOS DECOUD TREATMENT OF NATIVE 

OFFICIALS. 

Whilst under the rule of the Spanish monarchs, the province 
of Paraguay included the whole of the territory to the east of 
the Andes and the south of Brazil. But when the colonists 
threw off the yoke of Spain in 1811, all to the west of the Parana 
and the (river) Paraguay was separated under the name of the 
Estados Unidos del Rio de la Plata, or the Argentine Territory; 
that between the former river and the (river) Uruguay as the 
Province of Entre Rios ; and the remainder, to the east, as the 
Republic of Uruguay, or the Banda Oriental ; leaving to Para- 
guay, as then constituted, only the small territory I have denned 
in the opening chapter. 

The Spaniards and mestizos of Paraguay proper were the last 
to revolt from the mother country, and when the new Republic 
of La Plata sent a small force under General Belgrano, to 
"invite them" to co-operate with them for that purpose, or, if 
they declined, to make them accept freedom by force, the Para- 
guayans attacked and actually defeated the very men who 
offered them liberty and independence. 

A skirmish took place near the river Tacuari, in the first case, 
but it only temporarily delayed Belgrano, who marched on to 
Paraguari, a village ninety leagues to the north of his first posi- 
tion, and was there finally defeated. But as the Paraguayans 
were only armed with sticks and stones — notwithstanding the 
presence of the Virgin, who, mounted on a white horse, led 



46 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



them on to victory — I can scarcely imagine that the battle was 
such as to deserve the prominent place it has since held in the 
annals of the country. 

Paraguay, however, a few months afterwards, followed the 
example of the Argentines, and, having declined to enter into 
the Confederation, was declared a free and independent re- 
public in 1811. 

Velasco, the Spanish governor, was not deprived of his rank, 
but two counsellors were elected to assist and control him in 
the administration of the law. One was named Zevallos, and 
the other was a certain Dr. Jose Gaspar Francia, a tali, thin, 
saturnine gentleman, who has won for himself a place in history. 
The latter acted as secretary, and in that capacity managed to 
embroil his indolent colleague and Velasco in so many difficul- 
ties that they were glad to leave to him the task of extricating 
them therefrom, with the inevitable result of investing him with 
the supreme power he coveted. After a few months, a bloodless 
revolution occurred, Velasco and Zevallos were deposed, the 
former died in prison, and a wealthy Spaniard, named Yegros, 
was elected in their place. In the following year (1813) Fran- 
cia suggested to his co-ruler the advisability of retiring into 
private life, and Yegros, who seems to have been a popular, but 
not an ambitious man, and certainly a very weak one, resigned 
accordingly. 

Francia was thereupon named Consul ; in 1814, Dictator for 
five years ; and in 1816, Supreme and Perpetual Dictator of Para- 
guay : a title not a little singular, to say the least of it ; but, 
nevertheless, not a whit more remarkable than the man who 
bore it. 

Of his personal history we know very little : his father was a 
foreigner, probably a Frenchman, who had settled in the fertile 
Spanish province and taken an Indian girl as his wife. She 
bore him three sons and two daughters ; but he could not have 
been happy in his children, for one son and both the girls were 
insane. Jose Gaspar seemed, at least in his earlier years, to 
have escaped this terrible affliction, and was sent to the Jesuit 



DR. FKANCIA. 



47 



college of Cordova to be educated, from whence he returned 
after a few years with the title of Doctor of Laws, and com- 
menced practice as a lawyer, in Asuncion. He soon gained the 
name of an honest, courageous, and skilful advocate ; and it is 
not extraordinary, therefore, that although a young man he was 
chosen for the important post which he made the stepping-stone 
to irresponsible power. 

At first he ruled with justice and moderation ; he. did much 
to improve the condition of the people, introduced a better sys- 
tem of husbandry, established schools, and reduced, by the very 
summary process of pulling down all houses which projected 
beyond a certain line, the streets of the capital to regularity. 

In the meantime the neighbouring republics had commenced 
quarrelling amongst and within • themselves ; on the seaboard 
there was nothing but confusion and bloodshed, plots and revo- 
lutions ; and, in order to prevent such a disastrous state of 
things occurring in the hitherto peaceful regions he governed, 
Francia determined to completely isolate Paraguay from the rest 
of the world, and succeeded in doing so. 1 
• He collected, and drilled personally, an effective army ; esta- 
blished forts and guardias at short intervals along the frontier 
rivers, and defeated the Indians of the Chaco, who were getting 
troublesome. He shut up the country so completely that not a 
single native could quit it, and the few foreigners who succeeded 
in getting in, had marvellous difficulty in getting out again. He 
allowed only a few trading vessels to ascend as high as Nem- 
bucu, a town a short distance above the embouchure of the 
Paraguay ; he examined the manifest of their cargoes, selected 
what he needed, arms and ammunition especially, paid for it in 
yerba tea, and sent them away immediately. 

I think this was, under the circumstances, a wise measure 
and I believe that had the people been of a more advanced type T 
he would have ruled the country well.* But he, a talented and 
self-reliant man, had no patience with their love of talking rather 

* One of his maxims was, "That liberty must be won to be valued ; and that 
it should be proportioned to the education and advancement of the people/' 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



than doing, and their utter inability to think and act for them-, 
selves. He found that they could not respect, but only fear, 
and he adopted, therefore, a most repressive tyranny as his 
system of government. I am his apologist thus far, for I know- 
how sorely my own patience was tried in Paraguay, in endea- 
vouring to teach men who would make no effort to learn, who 
could talk well, even eloquently, and yet seemed to have no 
power of ratiocination or of acquiring useful knowledge ; and, 
moreover, how difficult it was to restrain myself from using the 
power of punishment I held. Francia did not exercise this for- 
bearance, and he made his name infamous as that of a most 
cruel and remorseless tyrant. 

He raised money by forced contributions from the wealthy, 
and shot those who appealed against his estimate of their means ; 
but he did not appropriate one farthing of it to his own use, 
and remained poor, although the whole revenue of the republic 
passed through his hands. Too intelligent to fear the sensual 
and illiterate priests, who administered the offices of the Church, 
he curbed their power, laughed at their dogmas, and despoiled 
them of their wealth. He abolished the duzmo, an unequal and 
oppressive tax, and compelled the indolent farmers to adopt a 
better system of agriculture. He did much good, but was terri- 
bly severe and irritable ; and, haunted by a constant fear of 
assassination and revolt, in his later years he became a moody, 
bitter, and cruel tyrant, absolutely without a friend or a single 
joyous hour. 

It is difficult for an Englishman to realize the power that a 
man of strong will and unscrupulous character can exert 
amongst a race so pliable as the Paraguayans ; during his life- 
time, and long after, the slightest expression of his will seemed 
a law that none could question. This was shown, perhaps, 
most strangely and revoltingly in the zeal with which every 
man played the part of a spy on his fellows ; the most sacred 
relations of life were disregarded ; sons would denounce their 
fathers, even mothers their children. 

He scarcely allowed any, save his body-guards, to approach 



f 



DR. FEANCIA. 



49 



him, and when he passed through the streets he ordered the 
people to retire within their houses, and close the doors and 
windows, on pain of death ; and any found loitering in the road 
leading from his house to the barrack of San Francisco, almost 
the only one he traversed, were severely beaten by the soldiers. 

An old lady told me, that one day, when a child, having been 
sent to the market-place to buy some oranges, she was running 
back with her apron full of them, and, hastily turning a corner, 
came unexpectedly upon the terrible Dictator. She fell on 
her knees, the oranges rolling in the sand around her, and 
begged him not to kill her. Francia smiled, and said gently, 
" Go my daughter, you have done no wrong," and rode on his 
way. 

On another occasion, a funeral procession crossed the road 
as he approached ; the bearers immediately dropped the bier, 
and with the priest and mourners hid themselves behind a hedge 
at the roadside until he had passed. 

So he ruled alone, and with irresponsible power, for twenty- 
six years, and died on Christmas-day, 1840, at the age of eighty. 
He was buried in the Iglesia de la Incarnacion, the oldest church 
in Asuncion, in a tomb built on the floor of the choir. The next 
morning the bricks were found scattered about in all directions, 
and his body had disappeared. What became of it remains a 
secret ; but the priests told to trembling Ksteners that the evil 
one had carried him away bodily during the night. I suspect, 
however, could the alligators speak, they would clear up the 
mystery, for, without doubt, his body was thrown into the river, 
which flows to the base of the walls of the church. 

The terrible dread his very name inspired did not die with 
him. A native will never willingly speak of " el defuncto" as 
they call him ; and to this day will look round fearfully if 
Francia be mentioned, and only to intimate friends tell " with 
bated breath," tales of his cruel deeds and supernatural wisdom. 

After a short interregnum, two consuls were again chosen, 
Don Carlos Lopez and Don Mariano Alonzo, and they entered 
on their office in May, 1841. Three years afterwards, it is said, 

4 



50 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



Don Carlos offered his colleague the option of death or retire- 
ment ; he wisely choose the latter, and by an extraordinary 
congress Don Carlos Lopez was named the first President of the 
Kepublic, on the 13th of March, 1845. 

He was a mestizo, the son of a poor shoemaker, who lived in a 
thatched cottage opposite the church of the Eecoleta, about a 
league from Asuncion, who had married a Guycuru Indian girl. 

A Spanish carpenter, his neighbour, took a fancy to him 
when a child, and sent him to study at the Colegio, the old 
Jesuit college of the capital. He was a clever, engaging boy, 
and his progress did credit to his benefactor. When his educa- 
tion was finished, he commenced practice as a lawyer — rather an 
anomaly, by the way^in a country the only law of which was 
the will of the rule*[;', but his occupation was principally that 
of drawing up petitions, and, at rare intervals, title-deeds and 
agreements. He used when engaged on the former to whisper 
cautiously to his clients how happy the country would be if it 
had but a liberal government, and especially that panacea of 
South Americans — a Constitution; hinting, at the same time, 
how willing and able he was to provide both if an opportunity 
occurred. When Francia died, Don Carlos put himself forward, 
and was, as I say, elected with Don Mariano. 

To prevent any misconception, it may be as well to explain 
that the President nominated the officers, who chose the depu- 
ties, who nominated him ; so he not only re-elected himself at 
the end of each nominal ten years of office, but secured their 
perfect acquiescence in any laws he might lay before them. 
I However, his administration was stained with few deeds of 
cruelty ; he removed most of the restrictions on the free naviga- 
tion of the river, introduced European workmen, established 
the arsenal, and a line of fortnightly steamers between Asuncion 
and Buenos Ayres, and, on the whole, he may be regarded as 
one of the best of the bad rulers South America has had. 

He had little difficulty in his internal government ; for the 
people had been so thoroughly drilled by Francia into unques- 
tioning obedience, and his office was looked upon with such 



DON CARLOS LOPEZ. 



51 



reverential awe, that his decrees, however harsh, were obeyed 
with timorous submission. 

He always spoke of the Government as a vague and terrible 
abstraction, saying that he was not it, but only represented it, 
and for that reason received visitors, even of the highest rank, 
seated and with his hat on.* And he never acknowledged a 
salute, because that sign of respect was not paid to him as an 
individual, he said, but to el gobiemo supremo, of which he was 
but the visible type. 

He made but little difference in the severe laws of Francia, 
but he administered them more mildly; he did not restore, 
except to a very trifling extent, the property of individuals 
which had been forfeited to the state during the former admini- 
stration ; he re-established the " diezmo," and acquired enor- 
mous wealth by the sale of the yerba mate, which was still a 
monopoly of the government. ■ 

The police regulations were excessively severe ; and especial 
pains were taken to prevent many people meeting together un- 
watched. For instance, if one wished to give a ball or an 
evening party it was necessary to get a license from the chief of 
police to do so ; and when the time arrived a row of lanterns 
was hung up in the front of the house to notify the fact ; and 
the doors and window shutters were left open in order that the 
guests might remain under observation. We English were 
tacitly exempted from this annoyance, but we were closely 
watched, and our card parties were not interfered with only 
because none beside ourselves were invited to them ; our ser- 
vants, however, were generally policemen in plain clothes, and 
any natives we visited were closely questioned as to our topics 
of conversation. The better families had the most perfect faith 
in our discretion and trustworthiness, and would tell of things 
they would not have dared to speak of to one another. I was 
often surprised at the acute sense they had of the cruelty and 

* He so received Sir Charles Hotham, but Mr. Christie, who was afterwards 
Her Majesty's Minister in the Plate, compelled him to receive him standing 
and uncovered. 



52 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



injustice of the Lopez family, and yet that they never made a 
national effort to rid themselves of it. 

In the year 1859 a conspiracy against him was discovered, or, 
at least, was said to have been. Many Paraguayans and one 
British subject, named Canstatt, were arrested. He was, how- 
ever, soon set at liberty, owing to the energetic action of 
Mr. Henderson, then Her Majesty's Consul in Asuncion ; but 
the natives were imprisoned for years, and two of them were 
shot. The story of one of the victims is so tragical that I shall 
relate it. 

I should premise, that it is common to see by the roadside 
rude wooden crosses, painted black, with a lace scarf wound 
round them, a low fence to keep off the cattle, and an earthen 
jar sunk at the foot, in which a candle may be placed, and burn 
sheltered from the wind, at night. Foreigners generally ima- 
gined that they marked the spot where a murder had been' com- 
mitted, but this is not the case ; deeds of violence were rare 
among the people, and murder was, like the yerba mate, almost 
a monopoly of the Government. They were simply memorials 
of friends who were sleeping in their peaceful graves in the dis- 
tant cemetery. 

There was one on the road from Asuncion to the Recoleta 
which often attracted my attention. The lace around it was so 
delicate, such beautiful flowers were strewn at its foot, and, pass 
when I would after dark, the light of a candle was invariably 
to be seen shining from the buried cantaro. But I never found 
any one tending it ; there was a little cottage with a few fenced 
fields close behind, but I saw no other evidence of life within 
or without its walls than an old man labouring occasionally in 
the fields. 

I often wondered who could bring and arrange the flowers so 
carefully — too beautifully, I was certain, to be the old man's 
handiwork ; but more than a year elapsed before the mystery 
was explained. 

I had then some native friends residing near the Recoleta, 
and sometimes I stayed late. One night a fiesta had induced 



A TALE OF THE EECOLETA. 



53 



me to remain much longer than usual, and as I approached the 
cross — it must have been near midnight — I was surprised to 
see a girl dressed in black kneeling before it. The road was 
deep and sandy, my horse was unshod, and I was riding slowly, 
so that I had reached almost near enough to hear the words of 
the prayer she was murmuring, before I was noticed. She was 
half kneeling, half crouching, with averted face and pendant 
arms, in an attitude of hopeless sorrow, and was sobbing 
bitterly. 

Shocked at the idea of intruding upon, indeed of witnessing, 
grief so sacred, I was turning slowly away to take another road, 
when my horse suddenly swerved, my sword rang sharply 
against my spur, and with a scream the mourner sprang to her 
feet in terror. 

I shall never forget the beautiful face, beautiful still, in spite 
of the sorrow which was wearing life away, which in the bright 
moonlight was turned to me. Had she not spoken I should 
have believed that I had seen a vision of even a sadder world 
than this. In a few words I expressed my shame and regret 
for disturbing her. 6 ' It is nothing; may God be with you, 
senor," she said in reply, and passed hastily through a gap in 
the hedge towards the cottage. 

The next day I rode over to my friends to ask who the mid- 
night mourner might be. The mocking, half- incredulous look 
with which my tale was at first listened to soon changed to one 
of sorrowful pity, and the senorita I was questioning said, " Ay 
de mi ! that is a bad omen : you have seen Carmelita ; she is 
mad, poor girl." I begged she would tell me her story, for my 
curiosity was heightened by the unusual gravity of the light- 
hearted Paraguay a. " A few years ago," she began, after seating 
herself beside me, " Carmelita was the prettiest girl in Asuncion, 
the best dancer and the merriest talker. She had lost her father 
when a child, but her mother was rich, and she had many 
suitors, but she favoured only Don Carlos Decoud. He was to 
have married her in a few weeks, when, in an evil hour, she 
was seen by Don Francisco Lopez, then a colonel in the army ; 



54 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



he fell in love with her, made proposals of the basest character, 
and was scornfully rejected. He left her, threatening revenge. 

" A few days afterwards Carmelita heard, with indescribable 
terror, that her lover and his brother had been arrested by the 
police, and thrown into prison ; on what charge no one knew ; 
and soon many others shared the same fate. Weeks passed 
away : one of the prisoners, a countryman of yours, senor, was 
set at liberty, and it was then known that a conspiracy had been 
discovered." The narrator paused, looked round cautiously to 
see that none were watching, and then continued in a lower 
voice : " The rest remained a long time in prison, and at last 
two of them were shot. They were executed in the Plaza de 
San Francisco at daybreak ; Carlos was one of them ; and, hor- 
rible to tell, his body was stripped naked, and thrown into the 
street before his mother's door ! * Carmelita was in the house 
at the time ; she ran out on hearing a noise, and fell senseless 
on the corpse of her murdered lover. For many weeks, in fever 
and delirium, she hovered between life and death ; but at length 
she left her bed. Better that she had died ! for she was hope- 
lessly insane. She shortly afterwards lost her mother ; and, 
left an orphan, is supported only by the labour of the slave, who 
cultivates the fields you pass so often. She is never seen by day, 
and lives only to adorn the cross she erected to the memory of 
poor Carlos, to pray for the repose of his soul, and for that 
happy day when death and Our Lady of Sorrows shall dry her 
tears for ever." 

The only other event worth notice during the administration 
of the late President, is the visit of the United States' exploring 
expedition in 1854. It was commanded by Captain Page, U.S.N., 
and under his able management the river Paraguay was tho- 
roughly explored, and the Parana would have been also but for 
an unfortunate misunderstanding about the right to pass through 
a certain channel under the guns of the fort of Itapiru, which 

* I can vouch for the truth of this part of the story. 



DON CAELOS LOPEZ. 



55 



the Paraguayans would allow none but their own vessels to 
enter. The " Water Witch" was fired upon, and one man 
killed. At the same time, a trading and cigar-making company 
established in Asuncion by the U.S. Consul, Mr. Hopkins, got 
into difficulties with the Government. The company was broken 
up, the exequatur of the consul was withdrawn, and for some time 
hostilities seemed imminent. The affair was, however, amicably 
settled, but in a way not very honourable to either of the 
disputants. 

In person, his Excellency Don Carlos Lopez was short and 
extremely stout, with rather good features, but showing strongly 
the taint of Gruycuru blood he derived from his mother. I never 
spoke to him, and I fancy that he disliked dealing directly with 
foreigners. All arrangements with us, as employes of the Go- 
vernment, were made by his son Don Francisco. His manners 
were imperious, and, to his own people, rude and overbearing. 
The way in which he treated his own officers of state may be 
judged of by the following incident. 

When Mr. Doria, Her Majesty's Charge d'Affaires, went to 
Paraguay, I think to settle the Canstatt claims, he addressed an 
official letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.'" " A. S. 
Excelencia, Serior Don Francisco Sanchez," etc., as is usual. 
The next day the minister called upon him privately, and told 
him in some trepidation that he must not give him the title of 
Excelencia, lest it should offend the President. Mr. Doria said 
that it was the usual way of addressing men in his position, and 
he could not see how " El Excelentisimo " could be offended by 
it. Senor Sanchez replied that he feared he could not accept 
it, and asked him to mention the subject to the President the 
next time he saw him. He did so, and Lopez gruffly answered, 
" Call him what you please, he will remain but a blockhead 
still." 

Don Carlos Lopez died on the 10th of September, 1862, 
aged seventy-two years, and was buried with great pomp in the 
murch of La Sma Trinidad, about four miles out of Asuncion. 

* Who was afterwards Vice-President of the Republic. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ELECTION OF DON FRANCISCO LOPEZ AS PRESIDENT ARRESTS 

FETES. 

By the will of the late President it was provided that at his 
death a triumvirate, consisting of his eldest son Don Francisco- 
Solano Lopez, Judge Lescano, and Colonel Toledo, should hold 
office until a new ruler had been selected by the people ; and 
within a month of his death, an extraordinary congress of the 
Diputados del Estado was ordered to assemble, in order to elect 
a new president ; all knowing perfectly well beforehand who 
would be selected, or rather accepted, as their future lord and 
master. 

The election was but a farce : the deputies from the ninety-two 
partidos of the republic met in the capital, and sat in the Cabildo, 
which was surrounded by a strong body of troops, commanded 
by the very man who asked their votes, and of course all free 
action or even discussion was out of the question. One mem- 
ber, it is true, had the temerity to say that the office of 
president was declared by the " organic law" of the country 
not to be hereditary, and that, therefore, Don Francisco was 
ineligible : he was listened to in ominous silence. Another sug- 
gested that the present time was a good opportunity for 
modifying the laws of the country ; he was going on to explain 
how, when he was angrily told to hold his tongue by Lopez 
himself, who reminded the deputies that they had not met to 
consider the laws of the country, but to elect a new president. 



ELECTION OF DON FRANCISCO LOPEZ. 



57 



That same night both disappeared, and have not been heard 
of since. It is almost superfluous to add, that the next day 
"the citizen Francisco-Solano Lopez was unanimously chosen 
Gefe Supremo y General de los Exercitos de la Hepublica del 
Paraguay." 

He was invested on the 16th of October, 1862, and one of 
his first acts was to require that his salary should be raised to 
$50,000. His father had been contented with one-fifth of that 
amount. One must admit, however, that even this demand was 
a moderate one ; for he had the absolute disposal of the whole 
revenue of the country in his hands : no budget was ever dis- 
cussed, no return of the annual receipts and expenditure given, 
and the only thing of the kind which appeared was a monthly 
return of imports and exports, and the revenue of the custom- 
house. But Lopez always tried to make it appear that he ruled 
constitutionally, and any one unacquainted with the country, 
reading the reports of his speeches in the " Semanario," would 
have regarded him as one of the justest and most liberal of men, 
and a jealous guardian of his country's liberties. 

A series of sumptuous feasts, balls, and spectacles followed 
his election, and for more than a month endless processions and 
felicitations, until the merchants and shopkeepers were half 
ruined, and everybody was heartily tired of them. 

The new president was born on the 24th of July, 1826, and 
was, therefore, thirty- six years of age when elected. Personally, 
he is not a man of very commanding presence, being but five 
feet four in height, and extremely stout — latterly most un- 
wieldily so. His face is very flat, with but little nobility cf 
feature, head rather good, but narrow in front, and greatly 
developed posteriorly*. There is a very ominous breadth and 
solidity in the lower part of his face, a peculiarity derived from 
his Guycuru ancestry, and which gives the index to his 
character — a cruel, sensual face, which the eyes, placed rather 
too close together, do not improve. His manners when he was 
pleased were remarkably gracious ; but when enraged, and I 
have twice seen him so, his expression was perfectly ferocious ; 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



the savage Indian broke. through the thin varnish of civilization, 
as the Cossack shows in an angry Russian. His address was 
good, both in public and private, although his articulation was 
imperfect from the loss of the lower teeth, and he spoke in so 
low a tone, except on one memorable occasion, which I shall 
refer to presently, that only those standing near him could catch 
the purport of what he said. Until he went to Humaita he 
always received me most graciously, rising, if he were not 
standing, when I entered, and shaking hands with me — an 
honour rarely accorded to a native — with great friendliness. 

In 1854 he went to France and England as Minister Pleni- 
potentiary, to negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce between 
them and Paraguay. In Paris he remained for some time, and 
from thence he imported two novelties — the French uniform for 
officers, and a mistress for himself ; the latter the most fatal 
i step in his life. As that lady occupied a very prominent place 
f eventually in Paraguayan affairs, and, I believe, by her evil 
I counsels and boundless ambition was the remote cause of the 
terrible war which has utterly depopulated the country, it is 
necessary to devote a few lines to her. 

I She is of Irish parentage, but was born in France, and mar- 
ried a surgeon in the French army : he still lives, I understand, 
so I will not give her real name, but that by which she was 
known in Paraguay— Madame Eliza Eloisa Lynch. She was, 
when I first knew her, a tall and remarkably handsome woman, 
and although time and climate had then somewhat impaired her 
beauty, I could well believe the story that when she landed in 
Asuncion the simple natives thought her charms were of more 
than earthly brilliancy, and her dress so sumptuous that they 
had no words to express the admiration they both excited. She 
had received a showy education, spoke English, French, and 
Spanish with equal facility, gave capital dinner parties, £*td 
could drink more champagne without being affected by it than 
any one I have ever met with. 

( A clever, selfish, and most unscrupulous woman, it will be 
readily understood that the influence she exercised over a man 



MADAME LYNCH. 



59 



1 so imperious, yet so weak, so vain, and sensual as Lopez, was 
immense. With admirable tact, she treated aim apparently 
with the utmost deference and respect, whilst she could really 
do with him as she pleased, and virtually was the ruler of Para- 
guay. She had two ambitious projects: the first, to marry , 
him ; the second, to make him "the Napoleon of the New! 
World." The first was a difficult one, for her husband as a\ 
Frenchman could not sue for a divorce ; bat should the second 
succeed, it would not be very hard, perhaps, to obtain a dispen- 
sation, and her equivocal position would be exchanged for a 
secure one. Therefore she gradually find insidiously imbued 
Lopez with the idea that he was the greatest soldier of the age, 
and flattered the vain, credulous, aud greedy savage into the 
belief that he was destined to raise Paraguay from obscurity, 
and make it the dominant power of South America. It was' 
necessary for the realization of this ambitious project that a war 
on a grand scale should be undertaken ; and with neighbours so 
encroaching as Brazil, so turbulent and lawless as the Argentine 
Confederation, it was not difficult to find a pretext for hostili- 
ties ; nor had he long to wait for an opportunity. • • 

Long before his election his intentions were sufficiently mani- 
fest, and even during the lifetime of his father, who said that he 
would rather lose a fourth of his territory than enter into a war 
to defend it, he had gradually collected a vast amount of mate- 
rials and ammunition, and during the first year of his magistracy 
he formed near Cerro-Leon (in a beautiful valley near the Cor- 
dillera c Al that name, to the south-east of Asuncion, and about 
fifty m' s from it) a vast camp of instruction, and by June, 
1863, army numbered 80,000 men. These preparations 
produ an( ^ a feeling of great uneasiness amongst the foreigners 
and t tb e foore intelligent natives ; and some of the latter must 
have expressed their ideas somewhat too freely, for an extra- 
ordinary dumber of arrests were made at this time by the police. 
On two oc cas i ons> returning to my quarters late at night, I saw 
a group of them with fixed bayonets hurrying respectably dressed 
men 'to prison — probably never to be seen by their relatives 



V 

60 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PABAGUAY* 

again, and oily to be spoken of in terrified whispers.* Two 
priests of the " capital were amongst the first to suffer, Padre 
Corbelan and Padre Maiz ; the former belonged to one of the 
first families in Paraguay, and the other was a man of unusual, 
talent and attainments. I must except both from the sweeping 
condemnation I have passed upon the priests ; for they were 
highly respected, and deservedly so. They had, however, 
spoken disparagingly of the President (all the old Spanish fami- 
lies regarded him with contempt from his low origin and half- 
Indian blood), had been overheard, and within a few hours 
found themselves inmates of a dungeon. Father Corbelan 
remained for years a prisoner, and was treated with horrible 
barbarity, perishing at length in the genera 1 massacre towards 
the end of the year 1868. His companion had, it is said, been 
denounced by a priest named Palacios, who for that, and his 
dutiful zeal generally, was made Bishop of Paraguay. Maiz 
remained three years in prison, and was then set at liberty and 
taken into high favour. He was made chaplain to the army, 
and afterwards a member of the terrible- tribunal appointed for 
the trial of those accused of conspiring against Lopez in the 
above year. In that capacity he condemned the bishop himself, 
the very man who five years before had thrust him — imprudent 
but innocent — into a felon's prison/ I cannot vouch for the truth of 
the former part of this story ; but if it be well founded, a fearful 
retribution fell upon Palacios : he was tried, tortured, and found 
guilty ; guilty of a crime which he could not have committed. 
His sacred office, his devoted service,* could not save^im, and 
he fell, with a bullet through his heart, on the bla ^-stained 
turf of Yilleta. ^h*. 

Many other arrests were made, and it was with inL^ ribable 
anxiety men watched and waited to see what turn aft would 

* The exact charge against political prisoners, and their sentenc^> wei e rarely 
known; the evidence, the names of the denouncer or witnesses —never ; and 
their family and friends were shunned as if plague-stricken, for t° De suspected 
was to be condemned; and seldom did one fall into disgrace wit^ ou * dragging 
half his relatives with him. 



THE BULL FIGHT. 



61 



take. To a passing visitor to Asuncion all would appear, how- 
ever, prosperous and happy. The " Semanario" — the only news- 
paper of the country, and written under the immediate inspec- 
tion of Lopez — was filled with glowing accounts of the advancing 
greatness of Paraguay, and the virtues and wisdom of the 
" heaven-sent ruler," who was making her the greatest and 
most enviable of republics. Every fiesta, every day remarkable 
in the history of the country, was seized upon as an opportunity 
for banquets, balls, and patriotic speeches; and those who could 
see nothing of the strings, and the hand which moved the pup- 
pets, would have said that the Paraguayans were indeed the 
happiest of people, and Lopez the greatest and most beneficent 
of rulers. 

On the occasion of the first anniversary of his election, a 
large amount of money was expended in architectural decora- 
tions, fireworks, and feasting. A handsome triumphal arch 
was erected in the principal street, and an immense saloon of 
wood and canvas in the Plaza del Gobierno. The expense 
was principally borne by the State, but many wealthy natives 
contributed heavily to it. 

I have mentioned that the river is gradually receding from 
Asuncion ; it has left to the north of it a series of shallow lagoons, 
a favourite habitat of the Victoria Eegia ; and when the water 
is low, a broad sandy shore, called the ribiera, stretches for 
miles between the edge of the lakes and the high banks above. 
There an immense circus was built for the bull fights ; so large 
that standing room and seats were found ( for several thousand 
people. The arena, some fifty yards in diameter, was open to 
the sky, but a broad zone of canvas, edged with wreaths of flowers, 
flags, and palm branches, encircled it, and shaded the spectators 
from the sun. Opposite the corral — the place where the bulls 
are kept — was a row of boxes draped with scarlet cloth and 
muslin curtains, the centre one for the President and officers of 
state, the others for the elite of Asuncion, whilst the rest of the 
space was thrown open freely to the people, who swarmed and 
clustered from the barriers to the topmost beam; and, as a living 



62 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



girdle to the disc of glittering sand, glowed with crimson and 
green, with gold and azure ; the colours thrown out brightly by 
the snowy tupois and cherifes in the hot sunlight, which flashed 
restlessly from fluttering fans and jewelled hair. 

The site had been most happily chosen, close to the lagoons, 
teeming with lilies and bright green camalote, where the smooth 
sand, or smoother turf, extends from the steep banks till it dips 
almost imperceptibly beneath the water; whilst the river bank on 
the other side rose like a wall forty or fifty feet high, crowned by 
the Cathedral ; the tottering old Cabildo, and a few houses as 
ancient, and part of the city could be seen above them. Be- 
yond the lakes one saw the broad rapid river winding to the far- 
distant horizon, fringed with dense woods now high above the 
water, with a thatched rancho or a handsome quinta at intervals 
half buried in their shade, and veiled in a trembling purple haze, 
which seemed to enlarge the landscape, and melted it into the 
softest and sunniest of pictures. 

Here, then, Asuncion had turned out in high holiday ; for, in 
addition to the bull fights, there were races, music, and the 
sortija, that spirited Moorish game all South Americans enjoy 
so heartily. A gold ring ( sortija ) is suspended by a slender 
ribbon from an archway, and he who riding full gallop can carry 
it off on the point of his sword, or a painted wand if a civilian, 
claims it as a prize, and a triumphant flourish from the band 
salutes his victory. Two butts of wine were also broached, and 
with plenty of carta, the native rum, distributed to all who would 
take them. 

The spectacle within the amphitheatre, apart from the spec- 
tators, was a very poor one. The picadores and mataclores were 
but herdsmen in their usual dress ; picturesque it is true, but 
not showy enough for an arena. The bulls were very tame, 
and showed only blind terror. The greatest amusement was 
contributed by the cambd rangds (literally, black images), gro- 
tesque maskers, who danced and played absurd antics in the ring. 
But they were all policemen, and I fancy the money the people 
threw was more to propitiate than to reward. 



RACES. 



63 



The races were, according to our English ideas, conducted in 
a very odd style. A line of posts and rails stretching about two 
hundred yards marked the course. Only two horses started at 
a time, one on each side of it, and but for the difficulty of get- 
ting a good and fair start, each race would have been over in a 
minute. All the jockeys tried for was some advantage in start- 
ing, which, from the shortness of the course, decided the race. 
They did not wear spurs, and set off by mutual consent, kicking 
the ribs of their horses with their bare heels ; but it was not 
adjudged a fair start unless both used their whips. So, of 
course, if one horse went off well, the rider of the other would 
not raise his heavy double-thonged latego ; and his opponent, in 
a very bad temper, and spluttering Ghiarani expletives, had to 
come back to the starting-point. This occurred so often that an 
hour or more was lost in wrangling and mutual abuse, before 
one race could be decided. There was little betting or excite- 
ment amongst the crowd. 

In the Plaza two large marquees were erected, and gaily 
decorated with evergreens and banners. There, for two days t 
and nights, the heavy throb of the gomba — an immense Indian 4 
drum which I could never hear without a shudder — beaten in 
turn by hundreds of willing hands, sounded incessantly ; and as 
ceaselessly danced the common people, as only savages can 
dance whirling, shrieking, and wildly gesticulating, as the 
huge drum pulsated louder and quicker, till at last they stag- 
gered out, trembling in every limb from exhaustion and fierce 
excitement, only to make room, however, for others eager to 
take their places. But in that crowd of perhaps ten thousand 
people, in spite of gleaming eyes and frantic yells, in spite of 
strong drink for all who would take it, there occurred neither 
accident nor quarrel till the last day; when a herdsman, who 
had been jilted by some coquettish morenita, stabbed her and his 
rival to the heart, and then, throwing away his blood-stained 
knife, gave himself up unresistingly to the police. 



CHAPTER VII. 



CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE MANUFACTURES YERBA MATE. 

In spite of their long isolation from the rest of the world, their 
want of education, generally speaking, and always thinking in a 
language which has no words to express " thank you " or "if 
you please," they are remarkably polite in their manners and 
address. 

Francia made a law, that all males should wear a hat of some 
sort, if it were but a brim (as I have often seen) it would do,* 
"in order," he said, "that they might be able to show proper 
respect to their superiors by taking it off." And a civilian, 
whatever his social position may be, never passes an officer, 
even of the lowest rank, without so saluting him. This is the 
key-note in Paraguay. The military are supreme, and are 
treated with far more respect than the priests or any civil 
employe of the Government. 

In the country, if one asks for a light for a cigar (tdtame, a 
little fire) or a cup of water (eumi), at the door of a house, an 
invitation to dismount and take a seat invariably follows. A 
cigar is then offered you, and if the place should belong to a 
family of the middle class, but still one which we in England 
should consider very poor, a refresco, a glass of lemonade, or 
sweet liqueur. In approaching a house, especially if the door 
should be shut, there is a- little ceremony to be observed. You 

* In very many cases the rest of his costume, if a child, would be but a tooth- 
pick suspended from his neck by a string . realizing the old story of an African 
chief's full-dress suit. 



NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 



65 



should stop, and shout out "Ave Maria," then wait for the 
reply, " Sin pecado" (without sin), to which you answer, " Por 
siempre" (for ever), and then you receive the invitation, " Ade- 
lante, seizor" (come in, sir). No well-bred native would think 
of knocking at a door without shouting out " Ave Maria" pre- 
viously. It is considered rude to decline a cigar, but you are 
not obliged to smoke it. The habit is, however, almost uni- 
versal — men, women, and children of both sexes all indulge in 
it ; the women of the higher classes were, however, getting 
ashamed of it, and only smoked in secret. 

The Paraguayans are excessively fond of dress, and an osten- 
tatious display of it, but they show a singular disregard for do- 
mestic comfort. As a medico, I saw a good deal of their private 
life, and the privilege was a saddening one. It reminded me of 
going behind the scenes during a morning rehearsal. To meet, 
say, the wife of a colonel at the club ball, dressed in last year's 
Paris fashion, with glossy hair, and murmuring the most courtly 
of Spanish, and then to see her the next day in the midst of her 
family, clad in a very scanty cotton gown, and without shoes or 
stockings, sitting in the midst of her slaves, with dishevelled hair, 
and scolding in uncouth Guarani, whilst her children, with dirty 
skins, were tumbling about, with cigars in their mouths, amongst 
the goats and the poultry, was not one of the least curious sights 
in Paraguay. 

Next to smoking, sipping the infusion of the yerba mate was 
the great excuse for idling time away. Early in the morning 
and after the siesta were the legitimate hours for indulging in it ; 
but those who had plenty of yerba, and, as usual, little to do, 
passed half their waking hours mate in hand. Yerba is the 
dried and powdered leaf of the Ilex Paraguayensis, a tree in size 
and foliage resembling the orange (that is, as the latter grows 
there, often thirty feet high), and with small white clustered 
flowers. - It belongs to the holly family, but contains a bitter 
principle similar to, if not identical with, theine, the alkaloid 
found in tea and coffee. It is taken in a somewhat singular 
way, the mate, a gourd stained black, which would hold three or 

5 



66 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



four ounces of water, is nearly filled with the coarsely powdered 
yerba. The bombilla, a silver tube with a bulbous end pierced 
full of fine holes, is then inserted, the gourd is filled with boiling 
water, and the infusion sucked through the tube immediately, 
exactly as one would take a sherry-cobler, except, of course, 
that it is scalding hot. Some take sugar with it, but a true 
mate drinker prefers it unsweetened. As soon as the gourd is 
emptied, a servant who has been standing, with the arms form- 
ally crossed, before you, refills it with water from a little kettle 
and again hands it to you. If several are taking it, the mate is 
passed from one to another, all sucking from the same bombilla, 
a fashion I had some difficulty in accustoming myself to. 

When we were invested in the Legation, we used it in the 
place of tea, and prepared in the same manner, and liked 
it pretty well. On my way to the United States afterwards, I 
fell in with an American who had been cultivating it in Parana, 
in the south of Brazil, and was then on his way to New York 
to introduce it there. He was quite enthusiastic on the subject, 
and was certain that it had but to be tried to displace at once 
both tea and coffee ; I had used it for years, and become fond of 
it, but I cannot agree with him. I have seen it stated in an 
English scientific work,* that the reason why it is taken in such 
an unusual way is, that the infusion has a disagreeable colour, 
and blackens on exposure to the air. This is not the case ; the 
infusion is a greenish brown, and certainly does not blacken 
until it becomes mouldy. The fact that the leaf is in powder, 
and that the bombilla strains the infusion whilst it conveys it 
conveniently to the mouth, is sufficient to explain why that 
mode of taking it is preferred. I have sometimes seen the leg 
bone of a fowl, with a tuft of cotton wrapped at the end, doing 
duty as a bombilla. Like tea it is slightly stimulating and 
astringent, and, if Liebig's theory of the action of the former be 
correct, it would also be indirectly nutritious, by retarding 
waste of tissue. 

* I think Johnstone's " Chemistry of Common Life." 



IDEAS OF GEOGKAPHY. 



67 



Many medicinal plants grow in Paraguay, and the natives 
have an idea that every herb and flower is a "rernedio" for 
some malady or the other ; and as they care little for their own 
beautiful wild flowers, although they highly prize roses, carna- 
tions, pansies, and other exotics, they came to the conclusion, 
whenever they saw me gathering them, that I was collecting 
simples. One day I was picking some superb scarlet verbenas 
which were growing by the roadside, when a country girl came 
up laden with sugar cane, and, after watching me for some 
minutes, said, shyly, " For what disease is that a remedy?" 
" For none, I believe." 4 ' Then why do you gather it ? " asked 
she, with wondering eyes. "Because, like you, it is bright 
and pretty." " Nei-nah, che carai!" (Don't tease me, sir), said 
she, turning away pettishly, for she thought I was laughing 
at her. 

The Paraguayans had most singular ideas about geography, 
which was, of course, principally owing to so few of them ever 
having left their own country, and they could never understand 
a map. The representation of a large extent of country on a 
small piece of paper was as inconceivable to them as an -abstract 
quantity is to a rustic. Indeed, drawings generally, except 
pictures of saints, are scarcely comprehended by them. A priest 
was once watching me with great attention finishing a view in 
oil colours of Mount Lambare, in which two small figures ap- 
peared in the foreground ; he pronounced it " muy linda" (very 
pretty), and then asked in some perplexity what saints they were, 
and why I had painted them so small. The Paraguay is the 
standard for position and distance, and all countries were either 
" above or below the river." They imagined that it reached to 
Europe, and that Francia, Inglaterra, Alemania, Eusia, and so 
on, were placed as towns, now on this side of it, now on that ; 
they could never realize the existence of another continent with 
an ocean rolling between. An old native once asked me the 
very frequent question, if I were far from my own land. I told 
him yes, more than two thousand leagues. " Que barbaridad ! " 
cried he, as if the earth were a cruel mother to separate her 



68 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



children so far. They always confounded London with England ; 
and even Father Roman, who had quite an extensive library for 
that part of the world, I should think nearly twenty volumes, 
and whom I found reading a Spanish translation of the life of 
Cardinal Wiseman, asked me, with a most puzzled expression 
of face, if Londres were in Inglaterra, or Inglaterra in Londres, 
and if the latter really adjoined France ! From their isolation, 
they had very naturally formed, also, a very high opinion of the 
greatness of their country, and the vast political importance it 
must possess amongst nations ; and their hatred of, and con- 
tempt for, foreigners was intensified by the fact of, what seemed 
to them, the enormous pay we received, and that we had come 
so far to take service with the government of the republic. 

No newspapers printed in Spanish, except the government 
organ "El Semanario," were allowed to enter the country, and 
in the latter foreigners were often spoken of as robbers and un- 
believers^and every pains taken to make them appear ridiculous 
in the ey%s of the natives. 

Amongst such a people the arts and sciences would necessarily 
be in a very primitive condition, those belonging to agriculture 
and domestic manufactures especially. The loose, sandy soil 
demands little dressing, and is merely scratched superficially 
with the rudest of ploughs, simply the thick bough of a tree, 
with two diverging branches, cut about three feet long, pointed 
with an axe, and hardened by burning, the two arms sloping 
upwards and backwards serving as handles. A couple of oxen 
are yoked in front by ropes of untanned hide fastened to a bar 
lashed to their horns, and the implement is complete. When 
worn out, it is easily replaced from the nearest tree growing in 
the right shape. The use of manure is quite unknown ; in the 
capital the refuse was carefully collected in the plazas, but only 
to be thrown into the river. 

The spinning of the indigenous cotton — probably the most 
ancient art amongst them — is performed with the distaff, a 
slender spindle of wood twirled between the finger and thumb 
of the right hand as the fibre is drawn out from a tuft held in 



DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 



69 



the left ; exactly, I should say, as it was done thousands of 
years ago. I saw the Tartar peasants in the Crimea spinning 
in precisely the same way, and they showed also the same fond- 
ness for making towels with borders and ends of elaborate 
embroidery/ 1 ' But the Tartars chose simple patterns, executed 
in silk and wool dyed vividly, and the Paraguayans most intri- 
cate lace and needlework, unrelieved by colour. The thread 
thus manufactured is remarkably fine, even, and strong. It is 
made into cloth in a style equally patriarchal ; weavers travel 
about the country, carrying their simple loom on their shoulders, 
and I have seen it set up, and the operator busy at work, under 
an orange tree by the wayside, the warp -roller suspended from 
a bough, and balanced beneath by stones, which also, hanging 
from strips of hide, raised the treddles. There, seated perhaps 
on a horse's scull, he would produce a fabric as beautiful as it 
was durable. The thick woollen ponchos and saddle cloths are 
made even more simply still ; the warp is wound over a wooden 
frame a little larger than the poncho, and a rude boat-shaped 
shuttle passed in and out amid the threads. They weave in 
this way most effective patterns, generally in black and white, 
or a fine blue obtained from the native indigo. 

Besides spinning and embroidery, the principal work of the 
women is cigar making, in which they are great adepts. The 
cigars, with the exception of those smoked by the makers them- 
selves, are much smaller than those seen in Europe, the 
"fuertes" are about the diameter of a pencil, and the tobacco 
is prized in proportion to its strength. One kind, obtained by 
stripping off the lower leaves of the plant, and only leaving a 
few of the finest to mature, is called "para hobi," or spotted 
leaf, and is worth five or six times the price of the ordinary. I 

* The Paraguayan lace is extremely beautiful, and of marvellous delicacy; 
the patterns were generally drawn by men : I have often seen billets-doux, contain- 
ing but two or three verses of poetry, and the rest of the paper occupie 1 with 
elaborate designs, generally of full size, for tupois, or towels. It sells for a very 
high price, £15 to £20 was a common one for a handsome towel. Its manufac- 
ture was introduced by the Spanish wives of the early settlers, and was, I have 
no doubt, derived from the Moors. 




70 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



have seen alarming symptoms of congestion of the brain pro* 
duced from its use by those unaccustomed to it. 

The sugar-cane grows freely, but like all else is sadly mis- 
managed. The stools are planted too close together, in fact, I 
have seen it growing as densely as corn in England ; as a result, 
the juice is very poor in sugar. It is crushed also in a most in- 
effective manner. The mill is simply a massive upright frame of 
timber, with two vertical rollers of hard wood geared together with 
wooden cogs ; the axis of one projects above, and to it is fastened 
a long pole by strips of hide, and the other end to the horns of a 
yoke of oxen ; they walk round in a circle, and thus turn the roll- 
ers ; the canes are passed between these a few at a time, and as they 
have no adjustment, and no other support than the roughly cut 
holes in which they turn, of course scarcely a third of the juice 
is expressed. The product is strained through a coarse cloth, 
and then evaporated in a deep copper pan, set over an open fire 
made on the ground, and without a chimney. The use of lime 
for clarifying is quite unknown, and as the juice is generally 
acid and heated for a long time, nearly all the sugar becomes 
uncrystallizable, and the result is very delicious, but rather 
costly, molasses. This is stored in hide bags, tied up with thongs 
of the same at the mouth. Occasionally they get a good granu- 
lar brown sugar, but it is quite by accident. Brazilian sugar, 
in spite of the long river voyage, often of three months, and a 
duty of 20 jper cent., is actually cheaper in Paraguay than that 
of their own manufacture. The molasses is there called miel, 
which properly means honey, and this has led Sir Woodbine Parish 
into the blunder of writing that, "The principal drink of the 
Paraguayans" (I quote from memory) "is made from honey, 
which is very plentiful there," which is not the case ; honey, 
"miel de abeja"* (which, by the way, is collected and stored 
there by a true wasp), in Paraguay is very scarce and dear. 
Much of the treacle is eaten with bread in place of butter, 
which is little used, except as a "remedio" or as a pomatum ; 
but the greater part is fermented and distilled for caiia — a vile 

* Bee honey. 



MANUFACTUKES. 



71 



spirit when unrectified, which it generally is, of a disgusting 
smell, and often, from the condenser being made of copper, 
most dangerously impregnated with that metal, in the form of 
acetate. The natives, who are generally abstemious, drank it 
sparingly ; but the English mechanics in Asuncion, with the 
usual recklessness and improvidence of their class, consumed it 
in enormous quantities, and the death of nearly half their num- 
ber could be traced directly or indirectly to its abuse. The 
stills were generally made of copper, but I saw in the village of 
San Lorenzo an earthen one, an example of the very infancy of 
distillation, and which yielded the tiniest rill of strong waters 
imaginable. It was simply a red clay jar about four feet high, the 
top closed by a wooden cover ; a tin tube was inserted close to 
this, and then passed obliquely through a similar jar filled with 
water. The first contained the wash ; it stood on the ground, 
and a fire was built up around it. The product, which I tasted, 
was detestable, and I marvelled that any one could drink it. 

One kind, called sustancia, is rectified with some droll additions: 
plucked fowls, back-bones of oxen, and meat are put into the 
still, " to give the liquor strength," as they say. It is improved, 
certainly both in strength and flavour, but was often ammoniacal 
from the burning of the flesh. I used to make capital spirit for 
my own use, and had a small still mounted in European fashion, 
with a proper furnace and chimney, and often tried to induce the 
natives to follow my plan. They admitted that it was " muy 
lindo, marvilloso,"* but too much trouble for them. A French 
distiller, named Lasserre, had a good apparatus, and made money 
by it ; the fuel he saved alone gave him a large profit. 

There are many abundant and, to an engineer, most tempting 
streams suited for driving mills, but there was but one water- 
wheel in the country, used for working the blast of the smelting 
furnaces in Ibicui. Some of the old men told me that the 
Jesuits had machinery driven in that way, but the very recol- 
lection of it had almost passed away. The whole of the corn 

* Very pretty — an epithet which they often apply in the oddest fashion — 
•wonderful. 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



used for making bread is powdered in wooden mortars by the 
women ; they pound it with thick staves of heavy wood, not 
made in the usual shape of pestles, two or three working at the 
same mortar — the stem of a tree hollowed out — striking in rapid 
succession, and in such good time that I was reminded of the 
noise of a fulling mill. Long before daylight in the villages the 
quick thud, thud is heard on all sides, as the women powder the 
maize for the day's consumption. The coarse heavy flour thus 
produced is tossed in the air, that the wind may blow the husk 
away. Two market women will pound an almud (half a cubic 
foot) of maize for a medio (about twopence-halfpenny). 

A beautiful arrowroot was prepared,, in an equally simple man- 
ner, from the tubers of the manclioc, or sweet cassava (Janipha 
Loeflingii), and formed an important article of diet. Much of it 
was also used for stiffening linen; the Paraguayans had an 
extraordinary fondness for making everything which could be 
starched as rigid as buckram, and I had some trouble to persuade 
my laundress that I did not wish my handkerchiefs to be quite 
so stiff as my collars 



CHAPTEK YIII. 



VISIT TO THE CORDILLERAS SCENERY WOODS A FIESTA AT 

FARAGUARI, 

During the year 1864 affairs were outwardly most prosperous 
in Asuncion, and the numerous fiestas were so extended that it 
seemed almost one long holiday ; but the short day of Para- 
guayan prosperity was already drawing to its close, and the storm 
and tempest which were to usher in its long night of utter 
desolation were at hand. The sufferings of the people, masked 
by a hollow mirth, but here and there half revealed by a sorrow 
terrified into silence, had commenced. The prisons were 
crowded with members of the best families, and the conscription 
was still sweeping away the young men, the strength of the 
country, by thousands. It was with a heavy heart that I went 
to the brilliant balls given every few weeks in honour of Lopez ; 
for I knew how many there, who- like myself were compelled to 
attend, were mourning the loss of those dearest to them, or try- 
ing by a fictitious gaiety and simulated devotion to propitiate 
the tyrant they regarded with equal dread and detestation. 
Amongst them was one I knew well, Dona Dolores Carisimo, j 
the wife but a few months of Don Bernardo Jovellanos ; I saw 
her, a gentle, shy little creature, obliged to stand with a row of 
shameless, courtezans, marshalled by Mrs. Lynch, and sing a 
" patriotic hymn " in honour of Lopez, whilst her husband lay 
a prisoner and loaded with irons, in the Colegio. 

Before, however, commencing the description of the painful 
scenes and episodes of the war, I gladly turn for a moment to 



74 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



speak of some happy days I passed in exploring the forests and 
passes of the Cordilleras. 

I had obtained fifteen days' leave of absence, and a special 
passport requiring the authorities of each town or village I 
should pass through to furnish me with horses and all else 
I needed. I took my servant with me, and a German who was 
going out to buy tobacco accompanied us for some distance, and 
kindly pointed out the route we had better take. We did not 
start till late in the afternoon, and it was after sunset before we 
had passed the limits of my usual rides. The roads were good, 
but we had to change horses every two leagues at the govern- 
ment post-houses, and thus lost so much time that the short 
tropical twilight had faded into night when we reached the town 
of Capieta, a small place, the houses of sun-dried bricks, 
thatched with reeds, and arranged on three sides of a square, 
with the church, a barn-like shed with a wooden belfry, on the 
fourth. We supped with the comandante, and I, not liking the 
close and hot little room he had prepared me, slung my ham- 
mock outside, and was soon fast asleep. The bright moonlight 
awoke me at two a.m., and arousing the men with some diffi- 
culty, I had the horses saddled, and after a wash in the brook 
which brawled through a stony ravine below the town, rode off as 
fast as the road, there marshy and intersected with deep narrow 
gulleys, would permit us. At the first post-house, my servant, 
who carried almost all his worldly possessions in a huge bundle 
rolled in his poncho round his waist, was badly thrown, but, 
thanks to the huge "fender" he was swathed in, escaped 
unhurt. 

Although the hot weather had commenced, the night was 
deliciously cool, and the full moon, shimmering over tree, rock, 
and moor, gave ample light to enable us to escape the mishap 
of a slide into the treacherous morass, which, covered with 
bright green vegetation, stretched on each side of the road ; 
itself, in many places, but a layer of large trunks of trees laid 
transversely over the oozy ground. Soon, however, we gained 
a higher level, and rode by endless fields of mandioc, with its 



( 

A FOREST RIDE. 75 

beautiful green and pink foliage, and the darker tobacco plan- 
tations, until we reached the town of Itugua just as the reveille 
was beating. There we changed horses, and after a tumbler of 
wine and a biscuit, lit our cigars and galloped off again. 

At the next post we received the unpleasant news that a flood 
had carried away. part of the old road, and that it would be 
necessary to make a wide detour. For about a league we rode 
in the bed of a small but rapid stream — rivulets in countries so 
densely wooded as Paraguay are often the only practicable roads 
through the forests, where paths are blocked up and overgrown 
almost as soon as they are made. The water was occasionally 
up to our saddle-girths, and the trees met so closely overhead 
that it was like passing through a leafy tunnel ; and so narrow 
and low that often we had to ride for a hundred yards crouching 
down to our horses' necks, to avoid the low boughs and tangled 
network of creepers and parasites. The air was close and hot, 
and almost alive with gorgeous butterflies sailing slowly and 
languidly in the slanting sunlight, which broke here and there 
through the matted vegetation, and lit up the sombre forest 
beyond. Several times our horses stopped and started in 
terror, as a huge alligator plunged into the water before us, or 
as a boa thicker than my arm glided swiftly away, with the light 
glittering on his undulating scales as if of burnished silver. 

I was glad enough when we emerged on the broad plains, and 
about noon reached the town of Caacupe, like all the rest, a 
hollow square ; for the plan introduced by the Jesuits in the 
" Eeductions" has been followed universally throughout the 
country, and when one town has been seen, the rest seem but 
copies of it. My occupation of sketching the place excited the 
liveliest curiosity amongst the natives ; they crowded in a wide 
half circle behind me, peeping furtively over my shoulder, and 
falling baqk in great trepidation if I glanced round. I asked one 
to stand in front, to have his portrait taken, but he looked so des- 
perately frightened that I was obliged to give it up for laughing. 

The country, after leaving this place, became very hilly and 
loaded with fine timber. I saw for the first time the Guaiacum 



76 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



and the Copaiba, fine lofty trees, growing- in situ. By the road- 
side sweet oranges were to be picked in abundance ; my man 
added about half a bushel to the load he was already carrying, 
to eat on the way, and mads- a capital breakfast off them. As 
we had diverged from the road, the farmers, whose ranchos I 
passed, supplied me with horses, always politely and willingly, 
but I had the power to take any I pleased. 

It was now an hour past noon, and the cordillera we had to 
cross was still blue in the distance, so I thought it advisable to 
get breakfast and a siesta before going farther r the nearly ver- 
tical sun making the latter a necessity. The next post-house we 
reached was invitingly clean^ and there we had some- excellent 
asado (broiled beef) and mandioc, to which ample justice was 
done. The old sergeant, to whom the place belonged, watched 
with a most amusing mixture of respect and curiosity the " fo- 
reign lieutenant" eating, waiting upon us mast assiduously the 
while. When the meal was finished, his daughter, a very pretty 
rubia, brought us water and beautifully embroidered towels for 
washing, and then cigars. Our host and my companions were 
soon fast asleep, bnt l passed the time more to* my taste in chat- 
ting, under difficulties, with the rubiacetw* She could not 
speak Spanish, and I but little Guarani ; and we laughed so 
much that at last we woke up 6 ' taita," who, greatly scandalized, 
sent her into the house immediately. 

The road now lay through the finest camp (which means mea- 
dowland in South America) I had ever seen, the grass reaching 
high above our saddles. I there saw a tujuju, a white crane 
with a black head, nearly five feet high. About four p.m. we 
commenced the ascent ot the Cordillera Azcurra. 

It was not nearly so formidable as I expected it would 
have been, until near the top, where the slope became so steep 
that it had been cut into ledges, with trunks of trees thrown 
across, forming a rude stairway. Our horses clambered up with- 
out accident ; but though there was not more than a hundred 
feet of it, I was not sorry when we reached the top, for it was 
decidedly unpleasant to look back. The whole height of the 



THE LEGEND OF IPACARAI. 



77 



pass above the valley may have been 1,500 feet, but it is difficult 
to estimate, by the eye, the altitude of densely wooded hills. 

The view from the summit was glorious ; the mountain chain, 
the distant river, and the far-reaching camp, seen in one magni- 
ficent panorama. At our feet was the beautiful lake of Ipacarai, 
about four leagues in length by one in breadth, its ripples washing 
the stems of the palms which crowded the shore, and breaking 
up the deep shadow from their feathery foliage, which, ever 
restless, swung in the summer breeze. Here and there stood a 
rancho, with its white walls and thatched roof, and beyond rose 
more palms, then cedras and lofty forest trees, hung with bright- 
flowered orchids and brown rope-like lianas, wave above wave to 
the very hill-tops. In the foreground all was a vivid green, 
fading gradually away with the distance into a soft purple grey, 
that melted, with scarcely a defined margin, into the cloudy 
horizon. The pass itself was walled in by tall, channelled cacti, 
bristling with spines, and loaded with delicate pink and white 
flowers, and euphorbias more formidable still, for their thorny 
branches poison as well as wound. In place of grass, the wild 
pine-apple, or caragnatd, covered the ground, whilst its serrated 
prickly leaves, of a bright scarlet in the centre, barred all strag- 
gling from the road.* 

As we were resting at the summit of the cordillera, and en- 
joying the cool breeze and beautiful view, the guide came to my 
side, and told the following legend, which I do not give exactly 
as I heard it. 

" Where we now see the great lake, there was, many years 
ago, a broad and fertile valley ; and when the good fathers, the 
Jesuits, first planted the Cross in Paraguay, they found there a 
large Indian village, encompassed with its fields of maize and man- 

* This latter plant will some day be of great value commercially : its fibre 
has been used by the natives time out of mind for making fishing-nets and 
lines, and a coarse, very strong cloth. Captain Page speaks of it in high terms, 
but in mistake calls it an aloe : it belongs to the Bromeliaceae. Towards the 
end of the war, the paper on which the u Semanario" was printed was made 
from it by Mr. von Truenfeld. 



78 



SEVEN T EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



dioc. They preached as usual, but its inhabitants refused to be 
converted, and, indeed, to have anything to say to them; prefer- 
ring to eat cassava, to suck mate, smoke cigars, and live in a state 
of deplorable ignorance, rather than be civilized and Romanized; 
that is to say, taught to worship idols rather than the rising sun, 
kneel in gaudily painted temples instead of the solemn old woods, 
where their fathers had prayed and trembled in the presence 
of a mystery which they could not comprehend nor dared to 
name, save by the wondering exclamation, ' Tu-pa! ' What! what 
is it? and to be turned into beasts of burden by their dear 
friends the priests. Of course, conduct so unnatural and wicked 
could but meet with condign punishment. The padres, in pious 
anger and sorrowful indignation, bitterly cursed the obstinate 
heathens, and departed. That same night the water rose rapidly 
in the single well which supplied the village, faster and faster 
till it poured forth in a broad stream around and within the low 
tent-like huts. In one, a parrot, belonging to a man who had 
given a loaf of chip a to their visitors, flew around him, screaming, 
i Terri-ho ! terri-ho ! ' (Begone ! begone !) He rose and fled in 
terror before the advancing flood, but the rest of the miserable 
inhabitants slept soundly in their hammocks, and were never 
seen again. At sunrise the next morning the blue lake flowed 
deeply over the guilty town and to the very feet of the fugitive, 
who had sunk exhausted on the slope of the cordillera." " And 
is the lagoon still rising?" I asked. " No, mi Teniente. The 
good fathers sprinkled the margin with holy water : immediately 
it stopped, and has remained ever since as you see it now." 

It was quite dark when I reached the town of Barrero Grande, 
a large place, and remarkably clean. The comandante, Don 
Justo Franco, gave me a most hearty welcome, and, as usual, 
assured me, with an earnestness which was almost ludicrous, 
that his house and all he possessed belonged to me, and that he, 
his wife and children, were my most devoted slaves. I had had 
a long day's ride, about twenty leagues, and after a capital 
supper and a cigar I rolled myself in a poncho, and my ham- 
mock had scarcely vibrated a dozen times ere I was fast asleep. 



FARRERO GRANDE PIRIBEBUY. 



79 



I was soon awakened, however, by a serenade performed in my 
honour by the choir of the village, assisted by the harmony of a 
clarinet, fife, triangle, and drum. The singers had most pain- 
fully shrill voices, and one dreadful fellow planted himself at 
the keyhole of the door, and shrieked complimentary verses at 
me through the dusty aperture. It was kindly meant, but I was 
very tired, and ungratefully fell asleep in the middle of the 
performance. 

I had engaged to deliver a letter for a friend to a farmer near 
Barrero, and left alone the next day to redeem my promise. I 
found near meant three leagues off amongst the hills. I arrived 
just in time for supper, and in that remote place they were 
delighted to receive a visitor. The family consisted of the 
estanciero, his wife, two grown-up daughters, and several 
younger children. They spoke very little Spanish, but I was 
soon thoroughly at home with them all. It was too late to 
return, so I stopped for the night. When I awoke rain was 
falling in torrents, and it continued to do so for three days : the 
roads wound round the- base of the hills, and as long as the 
storm lasted they would be impassable. However, I passed the 
time very agreeably, sketched everything about the place, studied 
Gruarani with the girls, who were greatly interested in teaching 
me, smoked many cigars, and took endless mates. 

At last the weather cleared up, and I returned to Barrero. 
Don Justo came up eagerly to meet me, and my servant told me 
that he had been very uneasy at my long absence. "Holy 
Virgin ! " he was continually repeating, " what can have become 
of the Englishman ? " 

The next morning I started across country for Piribebuy, a 
town which afterwards became notable as the place were Lopez 
made a stand after the defeat of Lomas Valentinos in December, 
1868, and where so many of the miserable remnant of his 
people died from disease and starvation. Don Justo, arrayed 
in a wonderful uniform, rode out some miles with me, 
and kindly sent a man forward to secure horses at the next 
estancia, for the road was far away from the posts. I left with- 



80 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



out breakfasting, hoping to reach Piribebuy before noon, for it 
is only seven leagues distant in a direct line. But we lost the 
road, had to ride many miles out of the way to get fresh horses, 
and night was falling whilst we were still in the forest. I had 
ridden fast for eight hours, and fasting also, for, except a few 
wild oranges, I had eaten nothing that day. At last, getting 
impatient, and being better mounted than my servant, I pushed 
on at a gallop in search of a house, where we could get our 
tired animals exchanged, and a guide, and at last reached a large 
rancho, with several saddled horses outside, and went up with- 
out waiting for my man. About a dozen Indian peons sat under 
the wide porch, each armed with a long knife stuck in his girdle, 
and an ill-looking fellow was smoking in the doorway. I was 
in private dress, with the exception of a lieutenant's cap, and 
had left my sword behind me, but had a revolver in my belt. 
I wished them good evening, which to my surprise was not 
returned, and then made the mistake of asking for horses, 
instead of demanding thenu No reply but a growl in Guarani. 
I was hungry, tired, and out of temper, so I drew the attention 
of the men to my pistol, and said sharply, " Bring me three 
horses." The change of tone was instantly effectual, and by 
the time my servant came up I was again in the saddle, and in 
a few minutes more we were galloping through the darkness. 
The road was detestable, and the night so cloudy that I could 
only just see the dark lofty wall of trees on each side of it ; our 
guide, however, kept ahead at full speed, and we followed as 
best we could, and in about an hour reached the town of 
Piribebuy. 

The chief of it had never, I should say, seen a foreigner 
before. He was a very stout man, with a swarthy skin and 
small, black, bead-like eyes, which he never took off me for a 
moment, and every now and then repeated, as if he could never 
get over such an astounding fact, " Your worship is really an 
Englishman ! Maria Santisima ! and in this poor comandancia 
of mine ! " 

The town is large, but wretchedly built on a bare, rocky hill- 



FOREST SCENERY. 



81 



side, with sterile fields around it ; I should think it is one of the 
most desolate spots in Paraguay. A man in the camp who has 
•ut five cows is considered very poor, and none there, the chief 
old me, save himself, had so many. A beautiful stream runs 
jelow it, in a bed of schistose rock, an excellent site for a 
vater-mill. I went to bathe there at daybreak, to the astonish- 
nent of the people, who, although they are fond enough of it 
n the summer, never think of washing in cold weather. " Que 
$uapo ! " (What a plucky fellow!) said one. " Que loco ! " 
(What a madman !) replied his neighbour. 

The next stage was to Caraguatai — which means, the river of 
wild pine- apples. This, a large and then very prosperous 
village, was the end of my journey; but, in order to make as 
much as possible of my time, I turned to the south, and took a 
wide circuit of nearly a hundred miles in returning to the 
capital. 

From thence the road led me once more through the silent 
woods, rich in picturesque beauty, and solemn as a cathedral in 
their dimly lighted depths. In England we still have fine tracts 
of woodland; many " a monarch of the glade," which was a fine 
tree centuries ago, yet commands our admiration; and a stroll in 
the mossy woods is a delight to young and old. But in those 
illimitable forests of the New World a feeling of awe, almost 
reverence, mingles with the pleasure with which we view them. 
They are sublime in their boundless extent, almost oppressive in 
their hushed stillness. The vast height of the trees is forgotten, 
they are so many, so densely crowded ; but our attention is 
arrested by the huge solid trunks, knotted, contorted and wound 
with gigantic climbers to the topmost bough ; or else crumbling 
in hoar antiquity, but bright with the tender foliage of the para- 
sites clinging to them still. They are strangely beautiful, are 
those great cedras and lapachos, but the silence, unbroken, 
save by the trembling whistle of the chicarra,* or the ring of my 
horse's hoofs, impressed me more. 

* The balm-cricket, the shrill vibratory whistle of which can be heard at an 
extraordinary distance. 

6 



82 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



After leaving the forest the road became very bad, and for 
more than a league we floundered through mire and water, ex- 
pecting that every plunge would be the last our tired horses 
could make, and the heat in the open plains was excessive. I 
was glad enough when we entered the next town, and rested 
under the massive vaulted corridor of the old Jesuit college of 
Yaguaron. 

The town is miserable, but the college, now the residence 
of the comandante, is a fine place, with large rooms and 
broad shady cloisters. In the centre of the grassy courtyard 
stands a stone sun-dial, cunningly carved. The church, one of 
the few built by the Society yet standing, looks exteriorly like 
a huge barn ; for the tower has fallen down, and the bells are 
suspended on a beam in front. The interior is very curious ; 
the builders evidently wished to produce great effects with small 
means ; and massive columns and arches in the choir are repre- 
sented in profile by thin boards, painted in imitation of stone. 
The roof is coloured gaudily, red and green, but the rafters are 
hidden by matting beautifully woven, and the pulpit is supported 
by a carved figure of a woman in a Roman habit, and decorated 
with small medallion paintings by no mean hand. Round the 
walls are large rudely executed pictures, representing scriptural 
subjects on one side, and stories from the lives of the saints on 
the other. But the greatest skill and labour had been lavished 
on the altar and the shrines. The former is a vast structure of 
carved and gilded w^ood, with a staircase behind it, in order to 
give access to the rows of candlesticks which rise in tiers almost 
to the roof. Over the west door is a gallery for singers, and an 
organ. I was greatly surprised to find such an instrument there, 
and was anxious to examine it, but the key of the gallery had 
been lost, and the comandante told me that it had been silent 
for a century. He was very proud of his old church, but it was 
in a miserably neglected and almost ruinous state. 

The day after I was amongst the hills again, and recrossed 
the cordillera by the Paso Ivie (the bad road), which fully de- 
served its name. I had been told that it was impassable fof 



PAEAGUARI. 



83 



bullock-carts, and oherefore expected one of the very worst kind; 
for those lumbering waggons, with their huge broad wheels, get 
over roads which we should deem utterly impracticable. 

A narrow precipitous ravine torn by the rains, such was the 
pass, so steep that looking down it from above — down more than 
a thousand feet — to descend in any other way than the very 
summary one of rolling to the bottom, seemed out of the ques- 
tion. The out-cropping sandstone, however, denuded of surface 
soil by the torrents, had assumed the form of a rough flight of 
steps, sometimes broad, but generally in thin, almost sharp, 
layers ; and down that slope we had to ride as best we could. 
I confess I should have liked to dismount, but the guide did not 
do so, and I followed his example and him ; my servant brought 
up the rear, carrying my gun. 

Then there was another long ride through rough copses and 
meadow-land, around the flanks of the cordillera, till we reached . 
its termination in the Cerro Santo Tomas, a bold square moun- 
tain, almost vertical on its western face. It must have once stood* 
out as a bluff rocky headland, when the waves of the Atlantic 
rolled over the low sandy plains of La Plata. 

The cerro is of mica slate, and its name is taken from a little 
cave or grotto near its summit, in which St. Thomas took up his 
residence for some time when he made his remarkable journey 
to America, ages before Christopher Colon pretended to have 
discovered it, and about which lay historians are so unaccount- 
ably silent. The grotto is used as a chapel, and on St. Thomas's 
Day crowds of people climb up the steep path to hear mass there ; 
the rest of the year it is abandoned to the owls and the bats, 
hermits not being an institution in Paraguay. 

Beneath the shadow of the cerro is the village of Paraguari, 
which was, like Yaguaron, founded by the Jesuits, who built 
there, also, a college and a church. The latter had become 
ruinous, and was being rebuilt when I saw it ; the former had 
been turned into a residence for the chief (here a man of some 
importance, as the place is a military station) and for the priest 
of the partido. 



84 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



When I left my hammock early the next' morning, I found 
that the sleepy little village was showing unusual signs of life 
and activity. The owners of the two general shops, represent- 
ing the commercial element of the district, were busily unpack- 
ing divers light wooden cases, and displaying their contents to 
a merry group of senoritas, accompanied by two or three old 
ladies in black, who were examining the bright-coloured stuffs 
and ribbons, holding them at arm's length or half unrolled from 
their waists, evidently with a view to new dresses. Some 
mozos del camjpo were with them, wrapped in chocolate-coloured 
ponchos, and lounging, cigar in mouth, against the door-post, 
or walking daintily on their toes, since the huge rowels of their 
silver spurs deprived them of the use of their heels.* I stood 
on the opposite side of the plaza, watching them, and wonder- 
ing what could have sent the girls dress -hunting so early in the 
morning. At length, one of them, with whom I had taken a 
cigar the previous evening, beckoned me to join them : I went, 
and told them of my curiosity. "0 serior," cried they 
altogether, " to-morrow Carlos Fernandez gives a fiesta, a ball 
at his quinta, and we are all going. You will go of course ? " 
" I should be very glad, but I have not been invited." " Que 
importa ! No invitation is necessary : you know them ; that 
is enough;" and as I had had the pleasure of meeting the 
sister of Don Carlos, Dona Eusebia Fernandez, several times 
in the capital, I promised to stay a day longer, and go with 
them. 

On the morrow the sun rose as brightly as usual : but in the 
afternoon the wind changed to the south, and a drizzling rain 
and a heavy mist rolling down from the cerro made the forlorn 
little village look more miserable than ever ; however, I went 
to look up my fair friends. With dejected looks, and sadly 
disappointed, they told me that it was impossible to go, the 
weather would not clear up in time ; even their brothers, afraid 
of wetting their finery, could not be persuaded to go ; so I deter- 

* I had a pair of these spurs of no unusual dimensions, the rowels of which 
were fully six inches in diameter ; they weighed eighty ounces altogether ! 



THE BALL. 



85 



mined to set out by myself. The quintet, or villa, was about 
three leagues distant, but the road was said to be easy to find. 
I found it easy to lose, for after riding about an hour all trace 
of it had disappeared. The ground was rocky and thinly 
covered with wiry grass, so that the cart-wheels would make 
no ruts, whilst horsemen had the whole width of the plain to 
choose for a path. I felt that my journey was likely to be a 
bootless one, and the fierce gusts of wind sweeping down from 
the cordillera drove the rain in my face, shut out all view of 
the cerro, which had hitherto been my landmark, and, except 
for the direction of the storm, I had lost my bearings altogether. 
Night was closing in, so I reluctantly determined to return 
whilst there was light enough to avoid the obstacles in the 
path. 

I had not ridden far, however, when a man came in sight, 
riding at full speed, his poncho streaming in the wind behind 
him. "Adonde va usted amigo ! " (Where are you going, my 
friend?)! shouted. "I am going to the dance," said he. 
" Will you show me the way ? " " Con mucho gusto, senor ; " 
and off we cantered together. The sky cleared as the sun went 
down, and it was quite fine when we reached the house. 

It consisted of two ranges of rooms, perhaps thirty feet 
long, and built at about half that distance apart, and the space 
between them was roofed over, I suppose as a threshing-floor. 
One end was temporarily closed by a screen of planks and 
hides, and this formed the ball-room. A rude wooden chande- 
lier hung from the rafters, and, with the many candles stuck in 
holders to the walls, gave a bright but unsteady light as it 
swayed in the wind. 

A crowd of people stood without in the open air, watching 
the dancers, and snapping their fingers in unison with the tink- 
ling guitars and harps, which formed the orchestra. I dis- 
mounted, added my saddle to a heap of others piled on one 
side of the entrance, turned my horse loose, and then, waiting 
for a pause in the dance, made my way to Dona Eusebia, a tall 
graceful girl, dressed in a delicate lace tupoi and a bright silk 



86 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



skirt ; who was looking on, with delighted face, at the gaiety 
around her. 

The entrance of a stranger checked the music in a moment, 
and many an anxious look was turned to me, for the sight of an 
' i oficial del gobierno " was an unwelcome one ; but my friend 
at once recognized me, and, holding out both hands in warm 
welcome, cried, "Ah, Seiior Don Federico, this is indeed a 
surprise ; you complete our happiness." And the dance went 
on again. She introduced me to her brothers, fine handsome 
fellows, and brought me her baby niece, in celebration of whose 
birthday the fiesta was given. We chatted in the sola for a 
few minutes, and then rejoined the dancers. 

The scene was a striking one, and, to an Englishman, per- 
fectly unique. At the moment of our return about twenty 
couples were performing "El Cielo," a complicated measure, 
half minuet, half waltz, like many of the Spanish dances, per- 
formed in figures and with stately steps. The dancers sing as 
they move in time with the music, and the spectators join in 
the chorus at regular intervals. 

The five musicians had, if I remember rightly, two harps and 
three guitars with double metallic strings, and they played a 
wild melody, which rose and fell fitfully, like the wind amongst 
the hills, and changed its key with the various meanings of the 
words they sang. Now, for instance, wailing sad and low, as 
they danced slowly and swung their arms in time to the mourn- 
ful complaint, " Ay Cielo ! ay Cielo ! este cruel amor," but quick- 
ening into a triumphal strain as they joyfully chanted, " Es 
mia, es mia, Cielo estoy feliz ! " when the slow measure was 
exchanged for a rapid whirl, and with outstretched arms and 
snapping fingers, a valse d deux temps brought the dance to a 
close, amid the plaudits of the lookers-on. We had several 
other dances, the courtly Montenero, the Media cana, the droll 
Pishesheshe, where the right foot drawn over the floor produces 
the sound the name indicates, and so on. 

There were about a hundred dancers : all the girls were in 
native costume — the classic tupoi and bright- coloured petticoat 



THE BALL. 



87 



— which has the advantage of always being evening dress, and 
the deep black or scarlet border to the snowy bodice is remark- 
ably effective, and very becoming to olive skins. 

The mestizo Paraguayans have inherited from their Indian 
mothers slender, lithe figures and a quick, elastic step, making 
them admirable dancers. It was impossible to watch them 
moving so lightly, so naturally and unaffectedly, yet with such 
precision, through the difficult and intricate mazes of the " Cielo" 
without admiration. They all wore gold combs of native manu- 
facture, and the fingers of some were completely encased in 
rings, each covering a joint, and set with chrysolites rudely cut. 
Some had chains and rosaries in many folds round their necks, 
all of massive gold, and generally representing the whole fortune 
of the wearers. With the exception of Dona Eusebia and her 
sisters, none wore shoes, and their bare feet fell noiselessly on 
the earthen floor. The men wore the usual camp costume — 
shirts richly embroidered and of spotless whiteness, cherifes, 
and ponchos wound round the waist, generally crimson or of 
some other bright colour. Two long benches, nearly the whole 
length of the floor, were occupied by the girls, who sat, 
scarcely saying a word to each other, waiting with demure 
looks and downcast eyes until they should be claimed as 
partners. There was none of that pleasant gossip and buzz of 
conversation, which we think so necessary to social enjoyment ; 
they had met to dance, and did nothing else. Presently some 
more musicians arrived, and in compliment to me they formed 
a set of quadrilles ; but the result was rather bewildering, for 
within a few yards of us they were still performing the old 
dances, and two sets of instruments playing different tunes so 
close to each other were rather destructive of time, and distract- 
ing in any attempt to follow the music. So, not daring to try 
the complicated figures the others were moving through so 
gracefully, I contented myself with watching them and chatting 
with my friends. 

We had a capital supper in detachments at midnight, and 
cigars and carta were, throughout the evening, at the service of 



88 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



all. They had commenced dancing at sunset, and kept it up 
till after daylight, plenty of volunteers relieving the musicians, 
and the dancers were never tired. 

Now who were the guests ? With the exception of the family 
and a few from Paraguari, all were small farmers and herdsmen, 
with their wives, sisters and daughters; but it was difficult 
for an Englishman, with his recollection of the manners and 
customs of the same class at home to believe that such was the 
case, for their easy politeness and their consideration for each 
other were admirable. Their host was a man of wealth and 
position, son of General Fernandez. They talked with him 
and his sisters respectfully, but without the slightest awkward- 
ness or restraint. The girls moved and danced gracefully, and 
although the only answer I received to anything I said to them 
was " Dai quai castellano, caballero " (I don't speak Spanish, 
sir), had I spoken their own language they would have talked 
freely and well. 

How is it, I thought then and often since, that people in a 
similar position in England are so hopelessly uncouth and 
clumsy ? Not want of education, in one sense of the word 
(for even our rustics are superior to the majority of Paraguayans 
in that respect,) but an utter inability to perceive the ungracious- 
ness of their manners would seem to lie at the root of the 
matter; and so far, ceteris paribus, they will always be b^&i&L 
those of Latin race. 

To return to our baile : we danced until six in the morning, 
when nearly all the guests departed. Mate was then served, 
and a number of the farm servants came in dressed as cdmba- 
ranghds — some as tigers, goats, and tapirs, others as demons. 
I had never seen, even in dreams, a scene so horribly grotesque. 

My horse had escaped, but they lent me a better one, and 
during the forenoon I returned to Paraguari. I found the air 
there quite cold ; indeed, they say that it is the coolest town 
in Paraguay. The south wind is deflected by the lofty and 
almost vertical sides of the cerro, and sweeps over the place, 
thus keeping down the temperature. In the evening I went to 



AT HOME AGAIN. 



89 



Ita, a large place, where the greater part of the rude pottery 
used in the republic is manufactured from a coarse blue clay. 
An Englishman who had been a prisoner many years in the time 
of Francia was then living there ; he was over eighty years of 
age, but looked extremely hearty and well; but he died about two 
years afterwards. I slept, as usual, in the comandancia, and 
left at three a.m. the next morning, so as to reach Asuncion 
before noon, when my leave expired. 

The, result of my trip was that, more delighted than ever 
with the beautiful country around me, I gave up all intention of 
returning to England ; little thinking that in a few short months 
all my hopes would be blasted, and that Paraguay would be the 
theatre of scenes and sufferings so terrible that the most 
guarded description of them will seem exaggerated ; and even 
I, who witnessed them, can scarcely trust my own memory 
whilst relating them. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CAUSES OF THE WAR GENERAL FLORES CAPTURE OF THE 

" MARQUES DE OLINDA " EXPEDITION TO MATO GROSSO. 

Those who believe that the war betw T een the Allies and Paraguay 
was one of races, or waged by the free will of the Paraguayans 
as an expression or consequence of national antipathies, would 
go far back to explain its causes ; indeed, to the foundation of 
the settlements made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the 
New World. And if the war had been one between the Argen- 
tines or the Orientales, and Brazilians, it would be necessary to 
speak of those old quarrels and outrages which have deluged 
the great southern peninsula in blood, and engendered an in- 
tense and lasting hatred between peoples closely allied in origin 
and language. But this is not the case, and the Paraguayans, 
as one of the consequences of their long isolation by Francia, 
had completely forgotten that the Brazilians were their " natural 
enemies," and even now they are viewed by them with con- 
tempt rather than hatred. * 

The Paraguayans are entitled to our warmest sympathies as 
a brave, though unfortunate people ; but it must not be forgotten 
that so far as they are concerned the war is a most unjust and 
unprovoked one. I shall be able to show, also, that it was 
essentially a personal war, waged, on the one hand, by Lopez, 

* The source of this feeling is rather curious as a psychological phenomenon : 
the one beiug for whom an Indian has the most unmeasured contempt is the 
negro ; and the latter regards the former with a mixture of aversion and dread 
which I often saw most ludicrously displayed during the war. 



THE WAR. 



91 



for the purpose of acquiring fame and power, and, on the other, 
by the Allies for their own preservation, and with the intention 
of crushing him before he gained the dangerous ascendency he 
coveted. I believe its origin may be traced to the time when 
Lopez visited France, namely, in the year, 1854. He, suddenly 
emerging from the semi-barbarism of a remote and almost un- 
known republic, was dazzled by the parade and glitter, the false 
glory and proud memories of wars and warriors he found around 
him, and was fired with the ambition of making the brave and 
devoted people he knew he would be one day called upon to rule, 
a nation to be feared and courted as the dominant power of 
South America. 

The unhappy influence to which he was soon afterwards sub- 
jected strengthened and gave form to these ambitious schemes, 
and he was only waiting for irresponsible power to be placed in 
his hands by the death of his father to rush into the first war 
for which he could find a pretext, or create one. With neigh- 
bours so quarrelsome as those "distracted republics" to the 
west and the south of him, the latter was scarcely a necessity ; 
he had but to espouse the cause of any one party amongst them 
to have a war on his hands immediately. 

In spite of the sufferings I have endured, in spite of the ter- 
rible cruelties I have seen inflicted on others by Lopez, in spite 
of these and the hard judgment I have passed upon him, I look 
back to this period of his life with regret. I can almost pity 
him. I am certain from what I afterwards saw that if he had 
only had but one trusted counsellor who would have developed 
the good that was in him, rather than the evil, he would have 
made a zealous, but unstable ruler ; and the material improve- 
ments introduced into Paraguay, during the lifetime of his father, 
would have been followed by others of equal or greater import- 
ance and utility. But such a Mentor was not to be found in 
Paraguay ; his position, the isolation which the Lopez family 
maintained, would not admit of it. And the friend he chose i 
abroad, the ambitious and unscrupulous woman he made his 
chief confidant, proved to be his greatest enemy, and her evil 



92 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



I counsel made his desire of military glory, which might have been 
but a passing whim, the ruling passion of his life. 

I have alluded to the disturbed condition of the republics of 
the Plate ; indeed, their normal state may be said to be that of 
revolution, and for the reason, perhaps, that there they are 
always talking about liberty, patriotism, and progress, without 
understanding the first, possessing the second, and indebted for 
the third to aliens, who advance them in spite of themselves. 
An Englishman would find any attempt to comprehend the 
principles and working of political parties there as hopeless as 
it is unprofitable. There are the Blancos and the Colorados — 
the whites and the reds ; the Crudos and the Cocidos — the raw 
and the cooked ; the Confederados and the Unitarios — the con- 
federates and the unitarians : the latter not a religious sect, 
nor does theology enter into any of their disputes ; but they 
could not detest their adversaries more thoroughly, nor could 
the majority know less of what they are quarrelling about, if 
they were the most zealous of Christians, or the most abstract 

| of questions were at issue. In short, they destroyed the des- 
potic rule of Spain before learning how to govern themselves ; 
they won liberty, only to misuse it. 

As I have said, Lopez had but to espouse the cause of any 
one of those unhappy factions to plunge the whole eastern side 
of South America into war and confusion ; for his power was so 
well known, and he was so heartily hated by all, that his adhe- 
sion to one was sufiicient to arm the rest against him. 

To show that I am not exaggerating the state of affairs in the 
Plate, I need only refer to the " Cruise of the Beagle," in which 
Darwin states that when he visited Buenos Ayres, about 
twenty years ago, ten presidents had been installed and ex- 
pelled in twelve months ; and five revolts and three revolutions 
occurred during the progress of the war itself. And when we 
consider that insurgent chiefs there were generally bribed to lay 
down their arms and disband their followers by the party in 
power, we cannot wonder at this state of things. It is but 
offering a premium for insurrection. 



GENEKAL FLORE S. 



98 



There is now, however, good reason to believe that a better 
state of things has commenced, and that the Plate will soon en- 
joy the prosperity which it needs only a stable government to 
secure. 

In 1863 the Blancos were in power in Monte Video, the 
Colorados expelled. The chief of the former was President 
Berro, and his opponents were only waiting for a favourable 
moment to oust them and him ; for, although crushed for a time, 
the Colorados had not lost heart, nor forgotten the terrible 
massacre of Quinteros, when 500 of their party, who had capitu- 
lated on honourable terms, were murdered in cold blood. At 
that time General Mores was the leader of the Colorados. 
Not a bad man, nor a bad ruler ; however, he was driven out in 
1859, when only half his term of office had expired. He took 
refuge in Buenos Ayres, and entered the military service of that 
republic, then warring with the Confederados under the leader- 
ship of Urquiza. 

He remained there almost forgotten until the beginning of the 
year 1863, when he determined to attack once more his old 
enemies the Blancos. The time was an opportune one for him; 
there was a strong feeling against the de facto government of 
Berro, not only on the part of the people he ruled, but in the 
Plate generally, shared, moreover, by the alien settlers there, 
and the foreign representatives. It would take too long to explain 
how and why, but the general insecurity of life and property, 
and the revolting cruelties practised, almost without check by the 
authorities, on the Brazilian estancieros* of the remoter districts, 
may be named as the principal causes. Some shocking outrages 
had, especially, been committed on the frontier, in which it is 
difficult to say if Portuguese or Spaniards displayed the greater 
barbarity. Some troops belonging to the republic had, how- 
ever, distinguished themselves in these deeds of infamy, and 
the Imperial Government demanded immediate redress and 
satisfaction, which was refused in language alike intemperate 
and insulting. 

* Stock farmers. 



94 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



In the meantime Flores had been maturing his plans, and on 
the 19th of April, 1863, he landed on the left bank of the Eio 
de la Plata, attended by only two followers ; but his name was 
a host in itself, and soon thousands of gauchos flocked to his 
standard. 

A g audio, I should premise, is a herdsman or shepherd, of a 
type, however, quite unknown in Europe. A wild race of half- 
breeds, gifted w T ith wonderful skill in horsemanship, with a great 
fondness for roving, gambling, and playing the guitar ; having a 
supreme contempt for all laws, social or moral, and a tendency, 
one may almost say a predilection, for cutting the throats of their 
neighbours, or each other, on the slightest provocation. Such 
are the gaudios, the Ishmaels of the New World, and they formed 
the army of Flores, and soon outnumbered the national g audio 
troops by many hundreds ; but their general seems to have 
kept a tight hold on them, and restrained their excesses most 
effectually. 

The day he landed the following proclamation appeared in 
Buenos Ayres, where his intentions were well known : — 
" Soldiers of the Army of Liberty! 

" The doors of your native land, which tyranny closed, have 
been opened, and we are going to deliver our fellow-countrymen 
from their bondage. We are in arms upon her soil to combat 
the government of despots, who, always vanquished, applauded 
and repeated the scandals which caused the hecatomb at Quin- 
teros." And so on, in the usual style of such documents, 
ending : " Yiva la Patria ! Viva la Libertad ! ! Viva las Institu- 
ciones!!!" and signed, " Venancio Flores, Campamento en 
marcha." 

The government of Uruguay was much alarmed, and that of 
the Argentine Republic showed great apparent zeal in defence 
of law and order ; forbidding all disaffected Orientales to leave 
the country, but leaving them to show their disaffection for those 
orders by getting out of it how or when they pleased. 

In August, 1864, fifteen months after the outbreak of the 
revolution, Brazil sent its minister Saraiva, whose first note, 



WAR BETWEEN BEAZIL AND URUGUAY. 



95 



dated the 18th of May of that year, had met with a very un- 
worthy reception, to press the demands of the Imperial Govern- 
ment for redress of the grievances I have mentioned. He was 
received with rudeness, and his remonstrances were met by 
language as undiplomatic as that which characterized the de- 
spatches of the preceding year. 

The result was an ultimatum from the Brazilian plenipoten- 
tiary, under date of August 10, 1864. The Oriental Government 
declared that whilst the republic was engaged in putting down a 
revolution in which many Brazilians took part, the demands of 
Brazil were inopportune, and refused it. 

These occurrences were carefully watched by Lopez, who 
sent an offer of his services as a mediator between the contend- 
ing parties, which was, however, declined very curtly by both, 
and treated with contempt and ridicule by the Argentine news- 
papers. So far he did well, and, Brazil having openly espoused 
the cause of Flores, he directed a protest to the Imperial 
Government, on the 30th of August, 1864, challenging its right 
to interfere in the quarrels of the neighbouring powers, and 
declaring that he would not look calmly on whilst the laws of 
nations were outraged. This protest shared the fate of the 
proffered intervention ; it was received with shouts of laughter, 
and its author was recommended by the colorados to attend to 
the state of his tolderia — his huts, and settle the squabbles of 
his half-naked squaws at home. 

So Brazil, having made an alliance with Flores, commenced the 
" war of liberation" by bombarding the unfortunate little town 
of Paysandu. After a protracted siege the garrison, which 
scarcely amounted to a twentieth of the enemy, surrendered on 
honourable terms ; but the commandant and two of his officers 
were murdered immediately afterwards, it is said, by order of the 
Brazilian general. Monte Video itself was then invested by the 
imperial fleet, upon which President Aguirre resigned, and 
left Flores master of the situation. He, however, refused to 
accept the presidentship until he had been regularly re-elected ; 
which was done, and he received, at the same time, in con- 



96 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAKAGUAY. 



sideration of the anomalous state of the country, extraordinary 
powers. 

Supposing Lopez to have been actuated by honourable 
motives, there can be no doubt that he was badly treated by all 
at this juncture, and the Orientales were blind to their own 
interests in refusing his help. But the fact was, the very name 
of Paraguay was hateful in the Plate ; not a foreigner had ever 
entered the country who had not been ill-treated. They went 
there tempted by the chance of making a fortune — some did so, 
and left only too glad to have escaped; others held on from 
habit and the difficulty of breaking up their establishments, but 
sending to their friends down the river dolorous accounts of the 
inconveniences and hardships they had to submit to, and of their 
anxiety to get away as soon as possible : by them Lopez was 
looked upon as a brutal tyrant, and his people as ignorant and 
submissive savages. 

Lopez, however, did not declare war against Brazil ; and the 
"Marques de Olinda," a passenger steamer running between 
Monte Video and Mato Grosso (a province of the empire on the 
head waters of the Rio Paraguay), left for the latter place, on 
her usual monthly trip, in November, 1864. She stopped at 
Asuncion ; but there was evidently something wrong — none were 
allowed to land ; but after a few hours she went on her way up 
the river. Lopez was undecided : he had not declared war, and 
to seize the vessel now would be but an act of piracy. On the 
other hand, the temptation was a strong one : the " Marques de 
Olinda" was a finer vessel than any he possessed; she had 
fallen into a trap, and being unarmed would of necessity make 
no resistance. The same night a gun-boat, the "Tacuari," was 
sent after her, and she was brought back to the pier of Asun- 
cion. On board was one of the most distinguished men in the 
Brazilian empire, Camheiro de Campos, who had just been 
appointed President of Mato Grosso, and a heavy sum of money 
intended for the payment of the troops in the province, unluckily 
for Lopez, in treasury notes. The president was made prisoner, 
and the vessel armed and converted into a gun-boat with all 



ATTACK ON COIMBRA. 



97 



speed. An embargo was laid upon the vessels in the river to 
prevent the news getting down, and twelve days elapsed before 
any notice of the affair left Paraguay. 

This notable exploit was the first fatal step in the career of 
Lopez ; it raised a storm of indignation against him in the 
Plate, and thoroughly alienated the few friends he had there ; 
and his next operation, the invasion of Mato Grosso, where 
defenceless towns and homesteads were ravaged and burnt with 
reckless cruelty — perhaps defensible by the ordinary rules of 
war — was but another proof that no terms could be made 
with a man capable of such duplicity and useless barbarity. 

The province of Mato Grosso was unprepared for defence, 
the forts were weakly manned and unprovided with guns of 
heavy metal ; and the officers in command seem to have been 
quite unfitted for the trusts they held. 

Immediately after the seizure of the " Marques de Olinda," 
Lopez sent General Resquin with a large force of cavalry across 
the river Apa, who, falling upon the peaceful Brazilian settle- 
ments, ravaged all before him with fire and sword. 

At the same time another force was sent up the river under 
the command of General Barrios, brother-in-law of Lopez, con- 
sisting of about 3,000 men; the " Tacuari," and two smaller 
boats, carrying two 68-pounder smooth bores, and four 32- 
pounders ; and on the 14th of November the vessels anchored 
below the fort of Coimbra on the Paraguay, in lat. 19° 50' S. 

The boats lay some distance from the fort, a small place con- 
taining a garrison of about 200 men, and mounting six brass 
12-pounders and two thirty-twos ; and they blazed away at 
each other for two days, but little damage was done on either 
side. The troops were then landed, and set to work cutting a 
road to the fort through the dense undergrowth of cactuses, 
bromelias, and other thorny plants which surround it. Whilst 
the besiegers were engaged in this work, a small armed steamer, 
moored above the works, got their range, and inflicted heavy 
loss ; and when, at length, they reached the walls they were 
received with such a heavy fire of musqueiry and hand grenades 

7 



98 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



that they retreated with a loss of 250 men in killed and 
wounded. In the evening the Paraguayans commenced, what 
they ought to have done the day before, getting their guns into 
position on shore. The enemy, however, saved them the 
trouble of breaching the walls, by escaping in the night on 
board the small steamer, in which they left before daylight. 
They did this so quietly that for some hours the Paraguayans 
did not find out that the fort was empty. The flight must have 
been a very hurried one ; for they left the guns mounted and 
unspiked, the magazine well furnished, and some valuable 
private property, especially the most costly case of surgical 
instruments I have ever seen. 

This affair seems to have completely disheartened the Brazil- 
ians (and correspondingly elated their enemies), for they offered 
scarcely a pretence of resistance at Albuquerque, Curumba, 
Dorado, and Miranda, which fell successively into the hands of 
the Paraguayans. At the latter place they retreated without 
waiting to fire the guns they had loaded. The behaviour of the 
Brazilian troops was most disgraceful ; the only activity they 
showed was in running away, and as far and as fast as possible. 
It must be remembered that General Barrios had only small 
wooden vessels, and smooth-bore guns, and he was at first as 
cowardly as his foes. He reached Coimbra so intoxicated that 
he could give no intelligible orders, and many of his officers 
were in the same state. The men scrambled up to the fort 
without order or plan ; and a sergeant and seven men actually 
got over the parapet, but being unsupported were instantly cut 
to pieces ; and others, whom I saw wounded in Asuncion, told 
how they had been taken prisoners by them, but managed to 
escape during the confusion reigning within the works during 
the assault. 

At Dorados a serious accident occurred : they were shipping 
powder when by some accident it exploded, killing about thirty 
men and Lieut. Herreros, the best officer they had. 

The defenceless people were treated with great severity, and 
the whole country given up to pillage. Some of the rich estan- 



CRUELTIES OF BAEKIOS. 



99 



cieros, who did not yield as much money as Barrios expected, 

j were tied naked on the brass guns and left in the sun for hours ; 

■ others were shot or flogged for the same reason; and a 
Paraguayan soldier brought down some dozens of Brazilian ears 
strung on a thong, and presented them to Lopez. The two sons 

I of the Baron de Villa Maria were executed for trying to escape ; 

; their father owed his life to the swiftness of his horse ; and after 
a toilsome journey reached Kio Janeiro in safety, carrying 
the news that Brazil had lost one of her richest provinces. All 
the foreigners they could find were brought down as prisoners, 
after having been stripped of everything they possessed ; they 
were principally Germans, Italians, and Frenchmen. I saw 
many poor fellows working as labourers or begging in the streets, 
who, a few weeks before, had been wealthy merchants or land- 
owners. The Paraguayans captured seventy guns, one steamer, 
five hundred prisoners, and an immense quantity of arms and 
ammunition. 

In the meantime troops were being rapidly concentrated in 
CerroLeon and Humaita, and in the beginning of 1865 Lopez had 
100,000 men under his command — fine, athletic, hardy fellows, 
who if they had had good officers would have been second to 
none in the world. They were at first badly armed, only about 
one-fifth of the number having percussion guns, about an equal 
number had old-fashioned flint-locks, and the rest lances and 
long knives ; but the imperial stores of Mato Grosso furnished 
a considerable quantity of rifles, which were distributed amongst 
the best marksmen. 

It was one of the great mistakes made by Lopez, withdrawing 
from industrial pursuits so many men at once. The whole 
population before the war was less than a million, and one-tenth, 
and that the flower of the males, from producers suddenly be- 
came consumers of food; for some time that was plentiful 
enough, as far as beef was concerned, for the cattle throughout 
the country was seized for the use of the army, but they got 
nothing else. Now the Paraguayans, unlike the Argentines and 
Orientales, are not exclusively carnivorous ; in fact, in the in- 



V 



100 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



terior they ate little meat, consuming in preference maize, man- 
dioc, and oranges. About 15,000 of these men were sent to Hu- 
maita, a damp, malarious place, where they could get scarcely a 
particle of vegetable food, and during the cold, wet winter the 
results were, as might have been predicted, a most intractable 
form of diarrhoea, pneumonia, and enteric fever, and great loss 
of life. The wretched sheds of hospitals were crowded, and soon 
became themselves foci of disease ; and that fine army melted 
rapidly and ingloriously away ; the gravedigger was soon more 
active than the drill-sergeant. At Cerro Leon, as well as in 
Humaita, thousands perished also through over drilling. The 
men were kept at exercise often eight hours a day in the burn- 
ing sun, in spite of the energetic remonstrances of the English 
medical officers. 

In the meantime Flores, assisted by his allies the Brazilians, 
had been nominated " Director Discrecionario " of the Republic 
of Uruguay, and had, in concert with them, declared war against 
Paraguay. Not content with these two powerful enemies, Lopez 
determined to quarrel with the Argentines, and therefore de- 
manded permission to march his troops across the province of 
Corrientes. This was of course refused, since the Argentines 
were at peace with Brazil, and Lopez immediately occupied the 
city of Corrientes, the capital of the province. It is said that 
he was urged to this step by Madame Lynch; for the editor of a 
paper there had published a biography of that lady of a some- 
what uncomplimentary character, and she, in her blind rage, 
persuaded her paramour to this fatal step. Be that as it may, 
on the 14th of April, 1865, Corrientes, without a struggle, sub- 
mitted to the Paraguayans. In the harbour lay two small 
steamers, the "25° de Mayo" and the " Gualaguay." The 
crew of the former loaded her two guns, but jumped overboard 
without waiting to discharge them ; from the shore they fired 
a few musket shots, but a shell or two from the invaders 
silenced them. On board this vessel and her consort the Para- 
guayans found thirteen Englishmen, a captain, engineers, and 
firemen, who were sent to Humaita as prisoners. There they 



1 



FORCED CONTRIBUTIONS. 



101 



were invited to enter the service of Lopez ; two did so, the 
rest declined, and were put in the calabozo of the capital, where, 
with the exception of five who survived an imprisonment of 
more than four years, they died from disease and starvation. 

Lopez committed an unfortunate blunder in his precipitate 
attack on this place. A British steamer, " La Esmerelda," 
was within two hours' sail of that port, with two thousand stand 
of arms on board which he had purchased in England ; but La- 
grana, the governor of Corrientes, hearing that the Paraguayans 
were coming, boarded her in his flight down the river, and car- 
ried her and the stores with him to Buenos Ayres. 

Three days afterwards the Argentines declared war, and on 
the first of the succeeding month the famous " Triple Alianza " 
was signed by Brazil and the Argentine and Oriental Bepublics. 
In the Appendix I give a translation of this document, by which 
it will be seen that the Allies ostensibly sought only the destruc- 
tion of Lopez, and the free navigation of the river, guaranteeing 
at the same time perfect liberty and independence to the Para- 
guayans. 

Two months before, an Extraordinary Congress had met in 
Asuncion, and Lopez told the members what he had done, and 
what he intended to do. There was, of course, a great display 
of patriotism, and the lives of the people and all they possessed 
were placed in his hands — a somewhat superfluous offer, since 
he could do as he liked with them already. They gave him the 
title of field-marshal; and increased his pay to 60,000 dollars a. 
year. Another " patriotic " movement commenced about this; 
time, by order of Madame Lynch, that the women should i 4 offer," 
for his acceptance, one-tenth part of all the jewellery they had. 
Woe to her who did not pay it, either in kind or in money, to 
the uttermost farthing ! These " offerings," on various pretexts, 
were constantly being collected : at one time, it was a statue to, 
his late father, that produced about 30,000 dollars ; then a gold 
sword, a gold case to put it in, jewels to ornament it — none, 
but diamonds were accepted, cnrysolites were not good enough, 
nevertheless they were not returned to their owners ; and a gold 



102 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



wreath for his heroic brow, this was late in the war, when he 
was trembling in a bomb-proof which he never quitted by day. 
&nd in addition to this, the poor creatures were obliged to sing 
patriotic songs, and come in troops before him, decked out in 
tawdry finery for the delectation of his eyes and ears. I saw 
many of these painful exhibitions, where members of the best 
families in Paraguay had to mix with the rabble, and, not daring 
to show their grief — the use of mourning had been forbidden — 
sing and dance for the amusement of the mean, selfish tyrant ; 
mean enough to despoil the market girls of their chains and 
ear-rings, and to pocket trinkets, taken by the police in the 
name of patriotism and liberty. 

On the 8th of June, 1865, he left for Humaita, to assume 
personally the command of the army, and took with him the 
whole of the gold coin left in the treasury, in addition to the 
" offerings " which had then been made to him. Three days 
afterwards was fought the battle of Riachuelo, the first of a 
long series of partial defeats and disasters, almost any one of 
which might have been decisive, but for the mismanagement 
and misunderstandings of the Allies. 

To show that I am speaking advisedly, I quote the following 
from a despatch of Mr. Gould's to Lord Stanley, dated Sept. 
10, 1867 :— 

" When Lopez commenced the war he was at the head of a 
fine army. . . . Since then he must have lost, in one way 
or the other, upwards of 100,000 men, for 80,000 have died 
from disease alone. 

" It is only owing to the dilatory manner of proceeding of 
the Allies, and their want of energy, that he is still able to pro- 
long his resistance. Had their fleet taken up in time a position 
between Paso de la Patria and Itapiru, after the surrender of a 
part of his troops at Uruguayana, none of the 25,000 men 
with which he invaded the Argentine province of Corrientes 
would have been able to recross the Parana into Paraguay. 

" On the 24th of May, 1866, he was repulsed with such 
fearful loss that the Allies might have entered his entrenched 



MR. GOULD ON THE WAR. 



103 



camp the next day with the greatest ease. It took him three 
days to reorganize any considerable force, as he himself 
acknowledges. His losses on that occasion amounted to be- 
tween 12,000 and 15,000 men. 

" On the 2nd of September, when the Allies tookCuruzu, had 
they marched at once on Curupaity they would have easily 
advanced with but comparatively slight resistance. They lost 
a fortnight, during which he strongly entrenched himself, and 

were eventually repulsed with immense slaughter 

They have remained stationary for more than six weeks, while 
by pushing forward a few thousand men on their extreme right 
they would entirely cut off his communications with the in- 
terior, and very soon compel him to surrender at discretion." 

I shall presently give a short account of these operations. 
I am getting in advance of my narrative, but it cannot be too 
soon nor too strongly impressed upon the reader, that it was 
the wretched mismanagement of the allied generals alone which 
prolonged the war. We sometimes thought that it was done 
intentionally, in order to make it one of utter extermination. 



CHAPTEE X. 



BATTLE OF EIACHTJELO CAPITULATION OF ESTIGAKRIBIA FALL 

OF GEN. KOBLES THE COBBALANS. 

In June, 1865, the Brazilians blockaded the river with nine 
large vessels, two of them plated ; they did not venture to enter 
the mouth of the Eio Paraguay, which was only guarded by the 
fort of Itapiru, mounting three 32-pounders, but lay in the 
Parana, about three leagues below Corrientes, off a small stream 
called Eiachuelo. 

Lopez determined to attack them there, anticipating an easy 
victory. Indeed, his only fear seemed to be that they would 
run away before he could get at them. To prevent their escap- 
ing he had, however, sent forward a force by land, under the 
command of Colonel Bruguez ; and a battery of rifled 12-pound- 
ers, six or eight in number, was established at Bella Vista, an 
advantageous point some miles below them. - 

With the same end in view, Captain Meza, who commanded 
the Paraguayan fleet, was ordered to run past the enemy with- 
out firing, and then turn back and board them as he came up. 
This precaution did not seem an unnecessary one after the cow- 
ardice shown by the Brazilians in Mato Grosso, and I am quite 
sure they would much rather have cut their cables than fought, 
if the attacking force had been less disproportionate. 

The Paraguayan fleet consisted of eight wooden and iron river 
steamers, four of them of from 300 to 600 tons each, the rest of 
about the size and build of the passenger boats running between 
London Bridge and Westminster. They were as follows : Ta- 



BATTLE OF EIACHUELO. 



105 



cuari, six guns ; Marques de Olinda, four guns ; Igurey, five 
guns ; Paraguari, four guns ; Salto Oriental, four guns ; Jejui, 
two guns ; Ypora, one gun ; Pirabebe, one gun ; and five chatas, 
flat-bottomed boats, each carrying a 68-pounder, and the most 
formidable part of the fleet. The guns of the steamers were 
principally 14-pounders, but there were six 32-pounders amongst 
them, one of which, however, was disabled after firing a single 
shot ; and they were crowded with troops. 

The Brazilian fleet consisted of nine large vessels, two of 
them plated, and carrying about sixty guns, several of them 70- 
pounder rifled Whitworths, and two 120-pounders. They were 
well manned, and had strong and lofty nettings stretched as a 
precaution against boarding, and which, in fact, saved them from 
capture. 

Early on the morning of the 11th of June, Captain Meza 
with his little fleet steamed down the river, and shortly before 
noon was abreast of his formidable antagonists. He could move 
but slowly, for the chatas being in tow retarded the steamers 
very much ; yet the preliminary manoeuvre was performed with- 
out much damage being sustained. In truth, the Brazilians 
were then in so desperate a panic, for they had been taken by sur- 
prise, and were amazed to see the little vessels going steadily on 
after receiving their fire, that had an efficient officer been in the 
place of Meza, the whole of their fleet might have been cap- 
tured ; but he, poor old man, was quite unfit for his post ; 
indeed, I was assured by the English engineer of his boat that 
he lost his head completely as soon as the firing began, and did 
not issue a single order afterwards. An excellent plan was 
suggested to him by Mr. Watts, the engineer of the " Tacuari," 
namely, to sink two of his smaller vessels below the fleet, and 
then attack it with the heavy guns of the chatas, until there was 
time to get a battery established on shore above the Brazilian 
position. There can b*e no doubt that it would have been a 
successful one ; but Meza was then too bewildered to understand 
anything, and the golden opportunity was lost. Many of the 
officers were intoxicated, the men fought as they pleased, or as 



106 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



they could, and the movements of the vessels were really di- 
rected by the English engineers on board of them. 

After firing in a disorderly way for some time, and inflicting 
considerable damage on the Brazilians, the Paraguayans camt 
up again, still towing the chaias, and desperate efforts were 
made by the men to board their gigantic opponents. The 
6 < Tacuari" ran alongside the plated " Paranahyba." The top 
of her paddle-box was on a level with the rail of the latter ; a 
sergeant and about a dozen men cut through the boarding net- 
ting with their long knives, and leaped upon the deck. It was 
cleared without striking a blow ! The crew, officers, and all, 
ran below without staying to see how few were their enemies, 
or perceiving that their boat, having forged ahead, had left them 
without support. The vessel would have been taken if the 
delighted Paraguayans had only secured the hatches ; but the 
sergeant, in his exultation, amused himself by marching up and 
down the deck, beating the reveille on a drum which he found 
there. The sound seemed to act as an invocation. A crowd of 
marines, with fixed bayonets, suddenly rushed up the hatch- 
ways, and charged the invaders ; they, seeing that discretion 
would then counsel a retreat, jumped overboard, and swam to 
the shore. The sergeant was under my care some time after- 
wards, and I have often heard him tell the story, and of the 
shouts of laughter with which his companions saluted the terri- 
fied camhas,* as they tumbled over each other in their eagerness 
to get below. 

This temporary success was the only one of the day ; the 
Brazilians soon ceased firing, and ran full speed into the light 
vessels of the Paraguayans, and crushed all they could reach 
with ease. 

The " Tacuari" had passed before this manoeuvre was tried, 
and the "Igurey," although towing the disabled " Ypora," 
managed to escape. The " Ybera," fortunately for her crew, had 
not passed the enemy's fleet, owing to her machinery temporarily 



* Blacks, in Guarani, but during the war only usod to signify Brazilians- 



BATTLE OF RIACHUELO. 



107 



giving way, and three of her consorts joining her, they slowly 
and in a half- sinking state steamed up the river. 

The Brazilians were only too glad to see their daring little 
adversaries disappearing in the distance, and made no attempt 
to stop or follow them. The story of the rest is soon told. 
The " Marques de Olinda," a fine handsomely fitted vessel, hav- 
ing water-tight compartments did not sink, but, falling on her 
side, drifted down with the current, and grounded at length, 
a worthless wreck, off the Chaco shore. The "Salto Oriental' ' 
went down immediately, but the water was so shallow that part 
of her works remained above it. Her commander was then ly- 
ing mortally wounded on the cabin table, the rest of the officers 
had been killed, and her partly submerged deck was covered 
with dead and dying men. The " Belmonte," which had crushed 
her, was bearing down again, when Mr. Gibson, her English 
engineer, mounted on the bridge, and shouted to her crew not to 
fire. An officer came forward, and told him to haul down his 
flag : he obeyed, and boats were sent by the Brazilians to take 
off the wounded, the few others were told to remain where they 
were. The "Paraguari" grounded in shallow water, and then 
having been set on fire by the Brazilians all but her hull and ma- 
chinery was destroyed. The " Jejui " was completely smashed. 

The Paraguayans admitted a loss of 750 men, but they really 
lost double that number, and two of the English engineers per- 
ished. The Brazilian loss was very heavy, 500 to 800 in men, 
and their vessels were severely handled. In running past Bru- 
guez's battery the " Iaquitinhoua " received several balls, and 
was, in trying to get out of range, run ashore ; the Brazilians 
made several attempts to get her off, but were unable to do so, 
and abandoned her without firing the magazine or even spiking 
the guns, and the latter were carried off by the Paraguayans 
soon afterwards. 

Such was the end of the battle of Eiachuelo, and it is not too 
much to say, that that battle of four hours and a half really de- 
cided the war, for it gave the Allies the command of the river. 
If those nine vessels had been captured, I am certain that Lopez 



108 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



would have been victorious, for he would have instantly appeared 
before Buenos Ayres or Monte Video, and, by threatening a bom- 
bardment, compelled them to make terms with him. The fort of 
Martin Garcia would not have deterred or stopped a man who 
had dared to attack such a fleet with a force so disproportionate. 

Mr. Gibson remained on the wreck till night ; and then as no 
help was sent to him, he set to work with a few Paraguayans 
who remained, constructed a raft, got them on it, and drifting 
down in the darkness, landed on the right bank. "With great 
difficulty they made their way up by land to Paso la Patria, a 
good-natured estanciero having supplied them with food when 
they were nearly perishing for want of it, and thence to Hu- 
maita. There he was at once put into prison as a traitor for 
hauling down his flag, in place of being rewarded for saving the 
lives of the remnant of the crew by his presence of mind. He 
remained in irons about three months, and was then set at 
liberty, but died soon afterwards. 

Captain Meza was severely wounded, a musket ball passed 
through his shoulder and right lung. He arrived in Humaita in 
a dying state. Lopez sent to tell him that if he survived he 
should shoot him for cowardice. He never rallied, and died 
eight days afterwards. 

On that eventful 11th of June I called upon General Barrios, a 
brother-in-law of Lopez, who had just been gazetted Minister 
for War and Marine, to congratulate him on his appointment. 
Whilst I was having a cigar with him a telegram came in 
announcing that a great victory had been gained. * This was 
about eleven a.m., and it must have been sent off before the 
battle began. He was greatly elated, and preparations were made 
for a ball in the evening ; but as no confirmation of the message 
was received they were suspended, and the next morning some 
inkling of the truth was known, and those who had relatives in 
the fleet were sad with anxious foreboding. 

* I should have mentioned before that an electric telegraph had been erected 
between the capital and Humaita, by two German engineers, Mr. von Truenfeld 
and Mr. Fischer 



NEWS OF THE DEFEAT. 



109 



In Humaita every one acquainted with the true state of affairs 
felt the greatest anxiety whilst the battle was known to be going 
on. Early in the afternoon a boat, one of the reserve, came up, 
bringing the news of a complete victory, and arrangements were 
commenced for receiving the conquerors. But hour after hour 
passed away, and their anticipations of a serious disaster became 
almost a certainty ; but the truth was not generally known till the 
next morning, when the half- sinking ships came in. The day 
broke cold and wet, yet the river bank was crowded by men and 
officers, few of whom had slept that night ; a dense fog over- 
shadowed the river, and the men, clustered about the batteries 
and the capstans for tightening the chains, were shivering in 
the damp air, as with gloomy faces they tried to peer through 
the dull grey curtain before them. Presently the masts of the 
steamers were seen, with cut cordage and disordered rigging 
hanging from the splintered yards. A few from amongst the 
eager crowd hurried down the slippery stairs, much whispering 
went on, for it was as much as a man's life was worth to spread 
bad news, and then as the dead and wounded were brought on 
shore the truth was known. The tide had turned, such easy 
prizes as the " Marques de Olinda" and the riverine towns were 
to be gained no more, and from that day forward, although there 
were occasional slight successes, and the Allies paid a full price 
for the blood they shed, it was evident that the sun of Lopez 
was setting, amid storm and tempest, for ever. 

I mentioned that a battery had been posted at Bella Vista, 
another was established by Major Cabral, at Cuevos, six leagues 
below it. The Brazilians remained a month at Biachuelo 
repairing damages, and then ran . the gauntlet of the batteries. 
All the men, except those at the wheel, kept below, and so lost 
but few men, it is said. As soon as they had gone the Para- 
guayans came down, tried to get off the stranded iron-clad, but 
not succeeding, carried off her guns and part of her engines ; 
the battery of Col. Bruguez had prevented the Brazilians doing 
so. They also raised the shell of the "Paraguari," which had 
been built in England for Lopez only a few months before, at a 



110 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



cost of £50,000, and towed it up to Asuncion, with the inten- 
tion of refitting it, which was, however, never done. 

About a third of the army had been concentrated in Argen- 
tine territory by this time, under the command of General 
Kobles, and in August a corps of twelve thousand men was 
detached, under the orders of Colonel Estigarribia, and com- 
posed of the finest troops Lopez possessed, and well armed, the 
majority with Minie rifles. His intention was to march them to 
Monte Video itself, through Argentine, Brazilian, and Oriental 
territory. And, if audacity could always command success, 
Lopez ought certainly to have succeeded in the enterprise. 

This small force, unprotected on its line of march, with no 
means even of guarding its rear or keeping open its communica- 
tions with head-quarters, and unprovided with food, beyond a 
small herd of cattle, enough for a few days' consumption, and 
then depending upon what could be found on the road, was to 
fight its way if attacked, or, at the best, march through an 
enemy's country for a distance of nearly eight hundred miles, 
when I doubt if a man amongst them could understand a map 
or knew whither their road would lead them. 

But the fate of the expedition was soon decided. After pass- 
ing San Borja, on the left of the Bio Uruguay, in Brazilian 
territory, they were met by the Imperial troops, commanded by 
the Emperor in person, and in such strength that Estigarribia 
must either retreat or capitulate. It is possible that Lopez, 
believing that troops were being massed there, but underrating 
their strength, had sent him with a small force, expecting to 
easily rout them, and that the " march to the sea" was but an 
idle flourish of trumpets. But, on either supposition, there 
was already no hope for Estigarribia ; his men were in a starving 
state, and whether conquerors or conquered the result would 
be the same. The village of Uruguayana had been taken and 
rudely fortified by the Paraguayans, and some attempt made to 
more regularly entrench it ; but on a flag of truce being sent in 
negotiations were commenced, and the Paraguayans capitulated 
on the 17th of September. 



EXECUTION OF GENEBAL KOBLES. 



Ill 



Some of the prisoners made their escape, and after weeks of 
wandering found their way back to Humaita, and brought the 
news of this fresh disaster, but, for a fortnight after it was 
generally known, no notice of it appeared in the " Semanario," 
and even then it was dangerous to speak of it. 

Lopez was furious ; for days no one dared to speak to him, 
and the name of Estigarribia could only be uttered in the most 
cautious of whispers. And when at length the "Semanario" 
spoke of his capitulation, it was only to revile him as the most 
infamous of traitors. It was declared that he had been bought 
with Brazilian gold ; that his army had superabundance of food, 
that the men were burning to attack their foes, but he prevented 
them ; and so on, in wearying reiteration of miserable false- 
hoods and groundless calumnies. 

The fidelity of General Eobles was then suspected, but I can- 
not believe on good grounds, although he was a bad, cruel man, 
and bribes were the weapons the Brazilians were most used to 
fighting with. But the story of letters from them being found 
hidden under stones near his quarters, and directed to him, is 
itself a very suspicious one. I doubt the man, but I doubt the 
evidence still more. However, it was deemed sufficient by 
Lopez, and he was arrested. 

General Barrios was sent to bring him back to Humaita, and ' 
he treated his fallen comrade, and once intimate friend, with 
every indignity. He even made him, a fat, clumsy man, walk 
two leagues in the sun, at his horse's heels, to the place of 
embarkation. 

On his arrival at Humaita he was put in irons, tried, con- 
demned, and, four months afterwards, shot. This long interval 
between condemnation and execution must not be regarded as 
an indication of mercy ; indeed, practically it was the reverse 
of humane ; it is but the old Spanish style of treating criminals. 
Prisoners used to be put to the question fort et dure, to make 
them confess their own guilt, or frequently to feign themselves 
guilty, and then tortured again to induce them to give up the 
names of their accomplices. So, in Paraguay, men who had 



112 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



been condemned to death were kept in irons for months, in the 
hope that they would implicate some one as yet unsuspected. 
It is needless to add, that numbers of innocent people were 
accused in this way by unfortunate creatures suffering every 
misery, and yet clinging frantically to any means of prolonging 
life. Robles was not shot till the 8th of January, 1866. 

Shortly after the disaster in Uruguayana I spent three weeks 
in Humaita, and, on the occasion of some national holiday, I 
attended a beso manos, a levee of the President's, when he 
delivered a speech, which few who heard it are likely to forget. 
The bishop addressed him, not, as was customary, the minister 
of war, and after the usual string of fulsome compliments, he 
spoke, hesitatingly, of the desertion and treason of Estigarribia 
and Robles. Lopez heard him, impatiently, to the end, but 
hardly waiting to acknowledge the beginning of the bishop's 
speech, burst out in a torrent of invective and passionate com- 
plaint, concluding in a loud tone, very different to his ordinary 
delivery: "I am working for my country, for the good and 
honour of you all, and none help me. I stand alone — I have 
confidence in none of you — I cannot trust one amongst you." 
And then striding forward, and raising his clenched hand, 
trembling with passion, he cried, " Cuidado ! But take care! 
Hitherto I have pardoned offences, taken pleasure in pardoning, 
but now, from this day, I pardon no one." And the expression 
of his face gave double power to his words. 

As I looked round on the wide circle of officers, bowing low 
as he left the room, I saw many a blanched face amongst them, 
for they knew that he would keep his word. 

He then commenced a system of punishing the relatives of all 
real or supposed deserters, which soon spread misery and ruin 
widely through the country. Hundreds of perfectly innocent 
people, principally women, suffered thus vicariously for the 
faults or misfortunes of their sons, husbands, or brothers. 

There was one family, one of the first which thus expiated 
a fault committed by a relative hundreds of miles away, I was 
very intimate with. It consisted of a widow and several child- 



DONA OLIVA. 



113 



ren. She was named Dona Oliva Corbalan, of pure Spanish 
blood, and very proud of it, somewhat haughty to strangers, 
but genial and kind-hearted to her friends, pious, but not bigoted, 
generous and charitable to a fault. As they lived generally in 
their handsome quintet some distance from the city, the senora 
had gone to the expense of getting out a carriage from England ; 
but the grim old president sent to tell her that he and his family 
were alone to enjoy that luxury ; it was not for " republicanas," 
and she had to put it down. 

She was sister of the Padre Corbalan I mentioned in chapter' 
VI. ; for it is one of the curious customs of the country that 
married ladies retain as a prenomen, and widows resume, their 
maiden names. Her husband was named Garcia, and so were 
her children called, but she Corbalan, as before her marriage. 

When her brother was arrested, she purchased a large house 
in the capital, which had been built for Madame Lynch, who 
declined to occupy it, however, because the shrieks of the pri- 
soners being punished in the calaboza behind it disturbed her. 
Its position was its recommendation to the senora, because, by 
sitting constantly in a balcony at the back, she could sometimes 
catch a glimpse of her unfortunate brother, and assure herself 
that he still lived. 

She had five sons. Jaime, the eldest, an idle, dissipated 
fellow, lived in the city ; the next was being educated in Paris • 
and the younger, bright-eyed, delicate boys of eight, ten, and 
twelve years of age respectively, were at home with her. 
There were also four daughters, two of them grown up, pretty, 
gentle girls. Shortly after the war commenced, Jaime, then 
about twenty-two, was sent as a sailor on board the "Tacuari," 
and Fraylan, the next, into the army. 

About six months later, a sister of Dona Oliva's, then recently 
a widow, was arrested for having, it was said, spoken disrespect- 
fully of Lopez. I knew her well, a quiet, timid woman, who 
would, I am sure, have done nothing of the kind. She was 
condemned, of course, and was put into a little room at the rear 
of the Ministerio de Hacienda, which Mr. Skinner had been 

8 



114 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



using as a dog-kennel for some time, and there she, a young, 
delicate woman, remained for six weeks, with a sentry standing 
day and night at the open door. 

During the year 1866 Lopez was very busy laying torpedoes 
in the river, which were made by an American, who had sug- 
gested the plan to him. When this man died the work was 
continued by a Polish refugee, named Michkoffsky, who had 
settled in the country, and married a native lady. He used to 
take the torpedoes down the river in a canoe, rowed by four 
boys ; one of them, named Gonzales, was a nephew of the 
Minister of Agriculture, and Jaime was ordered to assist him. 

One morning in September Michkoffsky started as usual with 
a torpedo, but he had not gone far down the river when he 
found that something had been forgotten ; so he told Jaime to 
put him on shore and await his return. Waiting, however, 
only until his superior was out of sight, young Corbalan told 
the boys to row on ; and, as they were below the batteries, 
escape was easy, and they gave themselves up to the Brazilians, 
torpedo and all. 

When Michkoffsky came back, he searched in vain for the 
missing canoe, and then, returning to head-quarters, reported 
what had happened. He was at once arrested, charged with 
having connived at the desertion, put in double irons, afterwards 
reduced to the ranks — he had held the rank of captain, was 
sent to the front, and soon afterwards killed. 

I was greatly distressed when this news reached Asuncion, 
for I knew that the relatives of the deserters would be severely 
punished, and they were all intimate friends of mine ; nor were 
they long left in suspense. Two days afterwards Seiiora Corbalan 
was in the hands of the police, the whole of her large real and 
personal property was confiscated, and she and her daughters 
were exiled to the village of Caaguazu, an Indian settlement in 
the great forest of that name, a hundred and fifty miles from 
their once happy home. They were stripped of all they pos- 
sessed, even to the ear-rings and ornaments of the children, and 
to the dresses they w T ere wearing. Some cast-off clothes were 



CURSING DESERTERS. 



115 



thrown to them, and barefoot they made that long and weary 
journey. 

I have since heard that Dona Oliva is dead, her eldest 
daughter insane, the rest penniless orphans. The third son had 
already been killed. His brothers were at once sent to the 
front ; one died from cholera ; the other, a shy little fellow, a 
great favourite of mine, perished on the battle-field. One of 
my colleagues saw him brought to the rear mortally wounded ; 
the poor child knew him, but could not speak, yet, turning as 
he heard his voice, died, with the glad smile of recognition on 
his lips. 

The families of the others fared the same. The mother and 
sisters of Gonzales were sent to a guardia in the Gran Chaco, a 
pestilential swamp, where only the heron and the rattlesnake 
can thrive, and where they died soon afterwards. 

His uncle, the minister, a white-haired old gentleman, was 
imprisoned for more than two years, and was then executed. 

Before these events, several other desertions had occurred, 
but the relatives of the culprits were allowed to shield them- 
selves by publishing anathemas against them in the " Semanario," 
and disowning all relationship with them. I have a number 
of these miserable letters lying before me. In one, a mother 
bitterly curses her son ; in another, a man heaps imprecations 
on the head of his brother ; a wife disclaims and vituperates 
her husband, who had not, by the way, deserted at all, but 
died a prisoner of war in Corrientes. I saw this lady a few 
days after the letter appeared, and, as I knew her intimately, 
ventured to ask her how she could have written it. " To save 
my children," said she, the merriest little woman I have ever 
met with. " It is all false ; you know that I love my husband 
dearly; but, senor, what would you ? " I do not know if I 
can present a more shocking picture of the state of affairs in 
Paraguay than one such letter reveals. And yet this " Sema- 
nario," every article in which was submitted to Lopez before 
printing, and filled with such free expressions of popular 
opinion as the above letters, has been received in Europe as 



w 



116 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

a just exponent of the Paraguayan question ; " communications 
to the editor," signed by English workmen, in its pages have 
been accepted as proofs that no British subjects wished to leave 
that house of bondage, and it has been quoted as a record of 
popular sentiments ! 

Another victim, who suffered later in the same year, was 
Senor Acuna, a tall white-haired man about seventy-two years 
of age. He had been for many years postmaster in Asuncion, 
and from his kindly and courteous manners was a general 
favourite. He was born in the province of Tucuman, but had 
lived long in Paraguay, and had married a native lady, a 
Kecalde, one of the best but most unfortunate families in the 
country. He had been ordered to detain all letters addressed 
to certain suspected persons in 1864, and lock them up ; three 
years later he was charged by Lopez with having guiltily 
concealed them, and thrown into prison. Shortly afterwards 
his wife, an aged woman, shared the same fate, but not the 
cell of her husband. They remained in solitary confinement 
seven months, and were released in a dying state. They 
expired, within a few days of each other, shortly after they 
were set at liberty. 



CHAPTER XI. 



NATIONAL COOKEEY AND CHARACTERISTICS VISIT TO HUMAITA 

SCENES IN THE HOSPITAL. 

As a relief to these painful narratives, I recall a few reminis- 
cences of my happier years in Asuncion. 

As soon as I had mastered Spanish I was appointed Professor, 
of Materia Medica and Chemistry, and had a class of about 
forty practic antes (medical students) in the General Military 
Hospital. They were selected from amongst the most pro- 
mising scholars in the College of Asuncion by the Principal 
Medical Officer, and when the war commenced we had a 
numerous staff of native assistants. But to teach them was 
disheartening work ; they seemed to remember so little, and 
would never think for themselves, never try to go through any 
process of reasoning. If they once got a wrong idea into their 
heads nothing could remove it ; like the Indians of Central 
America, who, having confounded enviemo (winter) with infierno 
(hell) could never after be persuaded by the Jesuits that the 
latter was hot ! 

Soon after the blockade our stock of medicines was almost 
exhausted, and my efforts were principally directed to finding 
native substitutes for them. There was plenty of astringents 
amongst the mimosas, carminatives enough, euphorbial purga- 
tives, and I made absorbent mixtures in a roundabout way from 
the mountain limestone ; for quinine we gave arsenic, calomel 
we manufactured ; but opium, which we needed more than all, 
was not to be replaced. I had planted a quantity of poppy 



118 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



plants, but they were all destroyed by the cattle one unlucky 
night. The castor- oil plant grows wild everywhere in the 
country ; it is called in Guarani mbaicibd, but, singularly enough, 
the natives, although they used its seeds as a violent and 
dangerous purgative, had no idea that the oil, which they got 
at a high price from Buenos Ayres, could be made from it. 

I have not yet, I think, said anything about the way in which 
we lived there, or what we ate. Fermented bread is very little 
used : it could be bought in Asuncion, but the natives prefer 
chipa, which is made from mandioc or cassava starch, known 
in England as Brazilian arrowroot, and in a manufactured form 
as tapioca. The starch is kneaded with new cheese, melted fat, 
salt, water, and a little coriander seed, and baked in one of the 
earthen ovens, resembling huge ant-hills, seen at the rear of 
every house. It is usually formed into long cylindrical rolls ; 
but for presents they make it all sorts of grotesque shapes. It 
is white, rather close, and when new, very pleasantly tasted, 
but it will not keep. If a little bone-earth were added, it 
would be just such a bread as a chemist would devise : a 
perfect food. 

Maize is extensively used, and the golden yellow cakes made 
from its coarse flour are very nice. The seeds of the Victoria 
Regia, there called abati-irupe, or water-maize, are sometimes 
used in the same way; they make capital crisp cakes. 

The ordinary cookery is simple and good ; they broil steaks 
to perfection, or rather roast them in front of a fire made on 
the ground ; and mandioc is an excellent accompaniment, 
though not equal to good potatoes, which, by the way, are 
tubers hardly larger than chestnuts in their native country. 

Their grand dishes, however, I do not like, with the excep- 
tion of came con cuero, beef roasted or baked in a piece of its 
own hide big enough to enwrap it, which is delicious. Their 
pasteles and so on always reminded me unpleasantly of that 
"Banquet in the style of the Ancients," described in "Pere- 
grine Pickle." There is one abomination they are very fond of, 
which must have been esteemed in England in the time of 



TOILET MYSTERIES. 



119 



Charles the Second, namely, foetal calf, for Shadwell, in his 
" Woman Captain," amongst other strange luxuries speaks of 

" Fawns out of their dams' bellies ript." 

They are very partial to preserves, dnlces, as they call them, 
and make excellent guava jam (not jelly) and candied fruits. 

They use an excessive quantity of fat in cookery; and are 
fond of it, also, in the most readily obtainable form, as a pomatum. 
During the fetes I once came on a pretty " little golden 
comb " seated on the door- step to catch the last of the fading 
sunlight, and dressing her long rippled tresses with the aid of a 
looking-glass propped up by a stone, a comb in one hand and — 
ought I to tell it ? — a candle in the other, and passing them 
alternately through her glossy wealth of hair, before plaiting it 
into a coronet, black as a raven's wing ; the rose, massive ear- 
rings, and jewelled peyne, lying on the threshold beside her. 
It was pleasant to catch a glance from the pair of roguish eyes, 
raised quickly from the sloping mirror as I passed. 

In their toilettes, a rose, placed over the left ear, v/as never 
forgotten, for they are all, gentle and simple, extremely fond of 
flowers, and one could never be sure of retaining a blossom 
with propriety for many minutes. If you should have a bouquet 
on your table, and visitors call, some at least of the flowers 
must be offered and accepted ; and should you ride off with 
some, and make a second visit, they must be given, or at least, 
exchanged, before you leave. If they should be more than 
ordinarily beautiful, the gift may be regarded as more than a 
compliment. One day a friend of mine was presented with 
some lovely camellias by a senorita, whom I afterwards saw a 
wife, a mother, and a widow within a year, and not wishing to 
lose them, tied them to his saddle-bow before paying the next 
visit. As he was bidding a Dona Juanita adieu, however, she 
unluckily caught sight of the treasure, and with many apologies 
for his f or getf ulness, he begged her, of course, to do him the 
favour to accept them. She admired them very much, asked 
carelessly who gave them to him, and then with the sunniest of 



120 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY, 



smiles again wished him good-bye. He rode off ; but finding 
that he had dropped a glove, returned and ran hastily into the 
house, and there saw his fair friend tearing up the unfortunate 
flowers into the smallest of pieces, and stamping on them, with 
an expression of face far from angelic. 

I had a photographic apparatus with me, and, wishing to get 
the portraits of some of the Payagua Indians, I asked the 
cicique, the chief, who used to sell me ostrich feathers, carved 
gourds, etc., to let me take his, but he replied that he was not 
going to have his ugly face copied for white men to laugh at, . 
and stalked angrily away. But not to be beaten, I went down 
to Captain Meza, who was then captain of the port, and asked 
him if he could send me up two or three of the men. He was 
greatly amused at the idea of taking the portraits of Indians, 
but promised me as many as I liked. On the morrow he sent 
a few soldiers to the Chaco, and brought over the entire tribe, 
men, women, and children ; and to make sure that they did not 
run away, rode up himself at the head of them. 

I took several portraits easily enough ; for they stood as 
fixedly as if they had been carved out of wood, staring affright- 
edly at the camera. Amongst them was an old woman, said to 
be more than a hundred years old, a dreadful old woman, with 
a scarcely human face, long white hair hanging down to her 
waist, and withered, fleshless limbs. I have never seen such 
an object as she looked, upside down, in the focusing-glass. 

When I had finished, I gave them two bottles of rum. There 
was a general fight, and the old woman to whom I had handed 
one of the bottles took too much, I fear, before she parted with 
it ; for whilst the others were quarrelling over the residue she 
kissed my hands rapturously, and then, to my horror and con- 
fusion, threw off her blanket, and danced round and round the 
camera in a state of absolute nudity. 

Shortly after the capitulation of Estigarribia I went down to 
Humaita to inspect the hospital and field boticas, but I saw very 
little of the formidable batteries which have made it so famous. 
It is a dreary place, flat and marshy, the soil a retentive clay, 



HUMAITA. 



121 



so that a heavy rain-fall makes a lake of it. On all sides stretch 
the dismal esteros, the interminable marshes, which were, how- 
ever, the strongest defences of the place, with narrow, bad 
roads winding through them. A little raised above the general 
surface would be a few neglected fields, a grove of ragged old 
orange trees, and a poor rancho ; nothing else between the low 
parapet on the land side and the distant hills, a blue line on the 
horizon. Within the works there were long ranges of barracks, 
mere sheds built of adobes and thatched with reeds, a single- 
storied brick house, where the President resided, he at one end, 
the Bishop at the other, and Madame Lynch between them, and 
a few squares of tiled rooms for the officers. The church, rather 
a favourable specimen of native architecture, was gaily painted 
outside, and had a double row of life-sized wooden saints 
within. The tower had been built so badly that they dared not 
suspend the bells within it, so they hung from a beam at its 
base. The batteries were hidden by a belt of trees from the 
lines, and none but those having business there were allowed to 
go near them. They were principally earthworks, but there 
was one brick casemate, called the London Battery. They 
mounted then about 200 guns, mostly thirty-twos. 

On the land side there was only a single parapet and ditch, 
with re-entering angles, commanded by field-pieces, mounted 
en barbette, and bastions at long intervals, with four heavier 
guns in each. But when Mr. Gould, Her Majesty's Charge \ 
d'Affaires, visited it in September, 1867, it had been greatly 
strengthened, and was a most formidable place. He reports as 
follows : — 

" The river- side batteries of Humaita at present mount only 
forty-six guns, namely, one 80-pounder, four 68-pounders, 
eight 32-pounders, the rest are of different calibres. The battery 
of Curapaity, towards the river, mounts thirty 32-pounders 
(this was an outwork to the south-west of Humaita). 

"The centre is defended by about a hundred guns. On the 
left are 117 guns, including four 68-pounders, one 40-pounder 
rifled Whitworth (recovered from the wreck of the Brazilian 



122 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



iron-clad after the battle of Biachtielo), one 13-in. mortar; 
fourteen 32-pounders, and many rifled 12-pounders. 

" Humaita, on the land side, is protected by three lines of 
earthworks, on the innermost of which eighty- seven guns are 
mounted. Total on the left, 204 guns. The grand total is, 
therefore, 380 guns." 

The hospitals were placed far from the barracks, and in the 
rear of the batteries, so that they were tolerably certain to come 
in for a good share of the shot aimed at them, and such proved 
to be the case ; casualties in the wards were very frequent, and 
on one occasion a single ball killed thirteen men as they lay 
in their beds. 

I heard in the marshes surrounding three sides of the fortress 
the 6 ' blacksmith " frog for the first time. The noise it makes 
is most extraordinary, exactly imitating the sound made by 
hammering a thin plate of iron. The batrachians of the tropics 
are as noisy as they are hideous, and they have a most singular 
way of expressing their feelings ; I have often stopped in the 
ester os to listen to them croaking in chorus. One would com- 
mence in a loud solemn tone, and then hundreds would join in, 
until the very ground seemed to vibrate with the deep guttural 
bass of the marshy choir. There would succeed a moment's 
silence, and then some Lablache, in a yellow waistcoat, would 
growl out his awful solo, and the chorus would swell and boom 
until the noise was almost deafening. On the evenings succeed- 
ing a storm, when the frogs were always noisiest, the marshes 
would be glittering with the smaller fire-fly {Lampyris Occi- 
dent alis), which emits a yellow intermittent light of great 
brilliancy ; and as it was never seen but over wet ground, the 
noise and the light served as beacons and bell-buoys, as it were, 
and often warned me of bad places in the road when riding 
home at night. 

On those still, humid evenings, when the air is almost 
saturated with moisture, the activity and brightness of these 
glittering insects is most remarkable. In the latter, however, 
they are greatly exceeded by the large fire-fly, or lucerna 



FIRE FLIES. 



123 



(PyropJwrus luminosus), which gives a steady green light of 
great beauty, which it can brighten or almost extinguish at 
pleasure. I regret that I did not examine this phenomenon 
more closely. Under the microscope the illuminators have the 
appearance of conglomerate glands, a number of pear-shaped 
sacs traversed by large tracheae with several branches. And I 
should say that the amount of light is regulated by the graduated 
admission of air through these tubes ; it is certainly not a vital 
process, for I ascertained that it continued to be evolved long 
after death, and even after the organ had been separated from 
the head. 

There is another light-bearer of even greater beauty, the 
larva of a beetle, a grey ungainly worm by day, but a+ night a 
bracelet for Titania herself, a double chain of living emeralds, 
with a clasp of a single ruby. 

To return to the fortress : I had intended to have stopped 
for a week, but was detained nearly three, and for a reason 
so absurd that I cannot recall it without laughing. 

President Lopez had ordered from Paris a peep-show, such 
as one sees at fairs in England, but on a very grand scale, and 
a phantasmagoria lantern. They arrived safely shortly before 
the river was blockaded, but unfortunately the printed directions 
for setting them up were mislaid, so his Excellency ordered 
Captain (now Lieut. -Colonel) Thompson and me to arrange and 
exhibit them. We were not very well pleased with such a task, 
but of course obeyed. 

"When ready for display, Lopez, accompanied by the bishop 
and three or four generals, made the tour of the exhibition to 
the sound of martial music, and attended by us as showmen. 
We had great difficulty in preserving our gravity ; the childish 
delight and misconceptions of our fat patron were so absurd as 
he stood on tiptoe ,to gaze through the bulls -eyes at " The Bay 
of Naples by moonlight," or a <( Chasseur d'Afrique engaging 
ten Arabs at once." 

The magic-lantern scene was more ridiculous still ; a wide 
passage, or zaguan, connecting two courtyards, was closed with 



124 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAKAGUAY. 



curtains at one end and by the screen at the other ; the machine 
was placed within, and chairs arranged in a semicircle for the 
President and his suite, whilst the soldiers for whose amusement 
the exhibition was principally intended, it was said, found 
standing room without. 

Most of the slides represented battle scenes from the Franco- 
Italian campaign ; these did not excite much enthusiasm, but 
the comic pictures were received with roars of laughter, and the 
bishop was very nearly the death of us. There was light 
enough reflected from the screen to see him distinctly, and his 
contortions, as he tried with handkerchief stuffed into his mouth 
to stifle his laughter, were excruciatingly diverting. He dared 
not laugi out, yet his delight at the figures, especially at one, 
where the nose of a dwarf gradually reached portentous dimen- 
sions, was utterly beyond his control. 

This was good fun for one night ; but we had succeeded so 
well that the performance was to be continued till further orders, 
and that was no joke ; however, I was taken ill a few days 
afterwards, and was allowed to return to the capital. 

I kept my bed for nearly a week after my arrival there. 
Whilst I was still ill, Mr. Atherton, an English merchant, who 
had been grossly misused by Lopez, and robbed of a large sum 
of money, on the pretext that he had had dealings of an illegal 
character with Don Carlos Sagier, a wealthy Paraguayan, who, 
having obtained permission to visit Corrientes wisely declined 
to return to his native land, died suddenly, not without strong 
suspicions of poison. 

Mons. Cochelet, the French consul, took up his case strongly, 
as he had previously that of some of the arsenal men, who had 
been ill-treated by the police, and he incurred the lasting hatred 
of Lopez in consequence. This gentleman is entitled to the 
warmest gratitude of the Englishmen in Paraguay, for the dis- 
interested zeal and activity he showed, whenever his official 
position enabled him to serve them. Her Majesty has had no 
consul in that country since 1859. 

Shortly before, Mr. Whytehead, the chief engineer, died, to 



I BECOME A SURGEON. 



125 



the deep regret of his friends, and the serious loss of the Para- 
guayans. He was a man of remarkable skill, and had raised 
the arsenal to a state of great efficiency. 

When I returned to Asuncion, a great many wounded had 
been sent to the General Hospital. The poor fellows were 
crowded two in a bed and between them in the wards, and 
hundreds of others were lying outside under the colonnades, in 
the miserably cold and wet winter weather. There was only 
Dr. Rhind and Mr. Fox to attend them, the native assistant 
surgeons could not be trusted to act by themselves, for except- 
ing a little instruction from the latter gentleman in anatomy, 
and some teaching from me in Materia Medica, they had learnt 
absolutely nothing. So I wrote to Dr. Stewart, the surgeon- 
major, offering to do what I could to help them. He mentioned 
the subject to Lopez, who at once appointed me Cirujano del 
2 do clase, that is, assistant military- surgeon ; and I commenced 
: my duties by amputating a leg above the knee, ten minutes after 
my commission reached me. 

The sick were sent to Cerro-Leon, and generally but to die. 
It was not medicine, but proper food, they wanted ; and 
dysenteric patients fed exclusively upon boiled meat were not 
very likely to recover. This was represented to Lopez ; but he 
only said, with a sneer, "If you have no better advice, as a 
medico, to give than that, do not come to me again." 

The unfortunate Paraguayans suffered successively, epidemic 
attacks of measles, pneumonia, small-pox, and cholera, the 
latter of the Asiatic type. The mortality from each was 
appalling ; before any serious battle was fought on land they 
had lost 50,000 men in the hospitals ! They were sent up, 
poor fellows, in the half-crippled steamers, from the front — for 
the hospitals at head-quarters were full to overflowing, — a 
journey of three or four days, and as a rule did not get a morsel 
of food on the way ; from a third to the half usually died and 
were thrown overboard. The condition in which the survivors 
arrived was shocking beyond expression, and I saw their suffer- j 
ings with an indignant pity, which frequently overpowered me 



126 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



completely. Almost or quite naked, with their wounds un- 
tended, dirty and famished, and so emaciated that when dead 
they dried up without decomposition, — they were carried up 
from the pier to the hospitals ; aud then had to lie, perhaps for 
a week or till they died, on the ground ; but one never heard a 
word of complaint : they bore all with a silent heroism, which 
won them our heartiest sympathies. 

The General Hospital is, as I have said, built on a low hill 
to the west of the town, and was constructed, I believe, by 
Francia ; it was, at least, used as a cavalry barrack, and part of 
it as a residence by him, during his days of gloomy tyranny ; 
and my quarters were the very rooms, distinguished by wooden 
ceilings, which he occupied. It is a large building of a single 
floor, but rather lofty, and forming two complete and one un- 
finished squares. In front is a long piazza of heavy stucco 
columns, in the centre a chapel, at one end a guard-room, and 
at the other the officers' quarters. The wards are mostly large 
lofty rooms, but badly lighted. 

My day's work was as follows : Before breakfast I went over 
to the Botica, or Dispensary, where I usually heard a sound of 
tinkling guitars and shuffiing feet, rapidly exchanged for vigorous 
pounding in empty mortars when the assistants heard me un- 
locking the door of my office. I had become too well accus- 
tomed to the native indisposition to work to notice that, so I 
arranged their duties for the day, examined any preparations 
which were being made under my personal superintendence, and 
signed the requisitions awaiting that formality. When I had 
breakfasted, I commenced the tour of the wards. At my door 
I found, if the weather were fine, a group of laughing and 
smoking senoritas, the lady nurses, who were anxious to show 
their patriotism by tending the wounded, or, in other words, had 
been ordered by the police to do so. I had set my face strongly 
against this movement from the first : it was most disagreeable 
work for the poor girls ; we did not need them, and excepting 
that they amused the wounded, they did no good ; and their 
flirtations, carried on with the medical students and pet patients, 



GENERAL MILITARY HOSPITAL. 



127 



wasted much valuable time, and led to several lamentable 
scandals. Therefore I declined their services with many thanks, 
a rapid shake of their hands, and the advice, " Do whatever you 
please, but pray do not touch the wounded." It will not be 
imagined that I object to good female hospital nurses ; they are' 
of course incomparably better than men ; but I do object to 
amateurs in that capacity, and to pretty girls of sixteen being 
so employed, very strongly. 

I enter a lofty room, about a hundred feet long and twenty 
wide, the roof of palm trunks and bamboos under the massive 
tiles, and black with the smoke and dirt of fifty years. The 
floor is of tiles, damp and uneven. The low narrow windows 
are all on one side of the ward, and the ends are in gloomy 
shadow, so deep that the festoons of dusty cobwebs seem part 
of the solid walls. The whole space is filled with rough bed- 
steads — rude wooden frames with a netting of strips of hide 
stretched across them — placed as closely as possible, only leaving 
a narrow pathway between them ; for, although the hospital 
should have but three hundred men in it, nearly thrice that 
number are now crowded within its walls. * 

In each narrow bed lies a wounded man, some on bags of sack- 
ing stuffed with moss, others on the bare thongs, which emboss 
themselves deeply in their flesh. Most of them are nearly 
naked, save for the bandages over their wounds and shattered 
limbs, or else a poor thin rag of a sheet is all they have ; there 
are no blankets, although the weather is cold and damp ; and 
the air is so close and fetid — for the poor shivering wretches 
will close the shutters of the unglazed windows at night — that 
a stranger can hardly breathe it, and yet it is full of visitors, 
almost all women. 

Around one bed is a group of them, talking eagerly to a 
wounded son or brother, his lately dim eyes now flashing back 
the happiness beaming from theirs ; for has not the doctor told 
him that he will be a cripple for life, and will never be taken 
away from them more ? They are very affectionate, and to leave 
* At one time we had nearly 1,000 wounded there. 



128 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



home is the greatest of misfortunes to them. A little farther 
on, a thoughtful mother has brought the well-thumbed guitar 
with its slender tinkling strings, and her son has raised himself 
on her arm, and is rattling out the "Media Caria," which his 
sister and a boyish practicante are gaily dancing, his attention 
divided between admiration of his pretty partner and fear lest I 
should surprise him there ; and an old man, with fluttering 
pulse which will soon beat no more, on the bed beside them, 
nods his head feebly to the half-heard, but unforgotten melody. 
Nearer the window a priest with bowed head is listening to a 
whispered confession. Let the absolution be quickly given, 
Padre ! no penance can be needed ; he has passed through a 
very purgatory of suffering already ! 

Farther yet, in the shadow of a recess, is a still sadder group. 
A wife in tearless agony is supporting the head of her dying 
husband. The chill hue of death is whitening his pinched fea- 
tures ; it needs no practised eye to tell her there is no hope now. 
The little present of chipa and cigars, she has journeyed so 
many weary leagues on foot to bring him, has fallen unheeded 
on the ground, and she is muttering Ave Marias with frantic 
haste, as she tries to force a piece of orange between his clenched 
teeth. But they cannot stay his fleeting spirit, and the little 
tired child, who has fallen into so deep a sleep beside him, will 
wake an orphan. 

I picture no imaginary scene. Day after day the actors 
changed, some few restored to health, some to a life of crippled 
helplessness, others, and they more numerous than all, passed 
to the bare cemetery on the hill ; but the same sad drama went 
on; not a bed was untenanted for many hours. 

I am waiting at the door, watching, half envying, the dancers, 
till the idle practicante catches sight of me, and hurriedly com- 
mences a pretence of doing something, and then, with a sheepish 
face, brings me the list of those who have entered since yesterday. 
And a general chorus of "Buenos dias mi padre, we are all 
quite well this morning," greets me from the patients. 

And now I commence my daily work. The new comers are 



GENERAL MILITARY HOSPITAL. 129 

first examined carefully, and then the rest, as I pass quickly 
between the lines of beds, only pausing by those severely 
wounded ; for, with four hundred or more on my hands, little 
time can be given to the rest. 

Here and there a man holds out his arm, and begs me to feel 
his pulse. They seemed to regard it as a sort of charm, and 
always thanked me gratefully if I acceded. Others would feebly 
beckon me, and motion me to bend down to their lips, to hear 
the whispered, "Oh! my father, I am weak, very weak," 
almost their only complaint. But they are very quiet and 
patient ; a groan or cry is rarely heard, although I am making 
no idle rounds. If to the frequent question, " Shall I get 
better ? " I could give no hopeful answer, they would but reply, 
"Esta bien" (it is well), in a tone of sad, but uncomplaining 
resignation. 

The morning soon passes. I rest from noon till two o'clock, 
and then to work again. In the afternoon I perform such opera- 
tions as cannot be done in the wards, or assist Dr. Rhind, my 
skilful and kind-hearted colleague, with his. It is often long 
after sunset before the last case is done with, and almost too 
tired to eat my dinner, far too tired to enjoy the ride which used 
to be my chief pleasure, I go early to bed, for I can scarcely 
hope for an undisturbed rest, since I take the night duty of the 
whole hospital. 







CHAPTER, XII. 



BATTLES OF THE BANK, PASO LA P ATRIA, BELLACO, AND CURUPAITY. 
NEGOTIATIONS AND DIPLOMACY. 

Such was my daily life for some months, and in narrating it I 
have passed over the invasion of Paraguay by the Allies, which 
did not take place till the 17th of April, 1866, or about seven- 
teen months after the first blow was struck by Lopez by the 
seizure of the ' ' Marques de Olinda." 

I may mention here, that the stock of powder Lopez had col- 
lected was enormous, and in addition to that stored by his father, 
and two thousand barrels which arrived a few days before the 
blockade of the river, he captured a good deal in Mato Grosso. 
But there was a reserve store of about twenty tons of saltpetre 
and sulphur for the manufacture of more in a magazine near my 
quarters. One evening, by some accident, it ignited, and as the 
combustible and the supporter of combustion were warehoused 
in the same building, the fury and rapidity of the conflagration 
may be imagined. It raged and roared like a volcano for two 
hours ; and not a pound of the whole was saved. He after- 
wards tried to make gunpowder with nitrate of soda, which is 
found sparingly in Paraguay; but, of course, unsuccessfully. 
1 The official paper stated several times that large deposits of 
saltpetre had been found, but such was not the case. During 
the lifetime of Don Carlos I made an extensive series of 
analyses, by his orders, of samples of soils brought from all 
parts of the country to determine this very point ; and I then 
reported that nitrate of potash did not occur in any one of 



INVASION OF PAEAGUAY. 



131 



them, and that there was no probability of its being found in 
Paraguay, an opinion which was confirmed by the reports of 
Mr. Twite, a mining engineer, who afterwards surveyed the 
country. This was one of the many canards spread by Lopez 
concerning the " inexhaustible resources of the country," and 
elaborated to mislead the enemy and public opinion abroad. 

After the capitulation of Estigarribia in September, 1865, 
the Allies marched their forces into Corrientes, and with a little 
severe fighting drove the Paraguayans out of that province. A 
Provisional Government had been installed there by order of 
Lopez, who stated that he had only occupied the territory for 
the purpose of rescuing the people from tyranny ! However, 
it soon came to an end, and order was once more re-established. 

The Paraguayans retreated, and crossed the Parana without 
molestation, the commanders of the Brazilian squadron allow- 
ing them to pass, almost under the guns of the fleet, with 
80,000 head of cattle, stolen from the Corrientinos, to Paso la 
Patria, when they could have been cut off with the utmost ease ; 
and in October, 1865, the army of Lopez was concentrated in 
Paso Pucu (the long jiass), a strip of dry land bounded by the 
impassable estero of Nembucu on the east, and the river Para- 
guay on the west. 

The allied forces encamped on the northern frontier of Cor- 
rientes, opposite Paso la Patria. They numbered sixty-two 
thousand men of all arms ; namely, 40,000 Brazilians, 18,000 
Argentines, and 4,000 Orientales, with two hundred guns. 
They remained there inactive six months, and although six iron- 
clads, carrying heavy rifled guns, had been added to the fleet, 
it dared not pass the little battery of Itapiru, mounting three 
guns, I believe 32-pounders, but certainly not heavier than 
68-pounders. The monitors exchanged shots with it at a long 
range for three months, and the result was the dismounting of 
one gun in the fort. 

Active operations were again initiated by Lopez, who had 
arranged a plan for the surprise and capture of the batteries 
established on a long, low island, opposite the embouchure of 



132 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



the Eio Paraguay. He intended to fall upon them at night, the 
Paraguayans were to drop silently down the stream in large 
flat, punt-like canoes, and slaughter the sleeping garrison. 

There is little doubt that such a scheme would have suc- 
ceeded, but, fortunately for their intended victims, the Para- 
guayans are the most dilatory of men, " Espera hasta manana" 
(Wait till to-morrow), is their motto, as it is of most South 
Americans ; and day was breaking when they reached the 
low grassy shore of the island. Eight hundred men were 
in the canoes (a reserve of half that number remaining on the 
mainland to assist them if necessary, and a few hours after- 
wards they were almost all that were left of the expeditionary 
force), and at first success seemed a certainty ; for with a 
frantic yell the half-naked Paraguayans threw themselves, sword 
or knife in hand, on the startled Brazilians, who recoiled in dis- 
order beyond their second lines ; but there a storm of grape 
and canister, poured almost into the teeth of their pursuers, 
checked their advance, and gave time for the garrison to reform 
their disordered ranks, and prepare for the second assault of 
the enemy ; who, baffled but undaunted, came on again with a 
spring like a panther, again to be mowed down by the pitiless 
iron hail ; a third and a fourth time, and then the shot whistled 
harmlessly through the trampled reeds : there were but dead or 
dying strewn beneath them. 

A few managed to swim across the stream, a few were brought 
off by the canoes which had escaped the shot of the iron-clads, 
which soon afterwards added their fire to that of the batteries, 
but above five hundred men were left dead by noon. The 
Brazilians lost nearly double that number in killed and wounded. 

This took place on the 10th of April, 1866 ; and a week 
afterwards the allied army crossed the Parana, and encamped 
on its banks, having the Estero Bellaco, as the southern border 
of the great marsh of Nembucu is called, on their right, and 
the river itself on the left. There an entrenched camp was 
formed, defended by batteries of great strength. 

The Paraguayans attacked them in force, on the 24th of May, 



BATTLES OF THE BELLACO. 133 

and again carried, in the furious rush in which they threw 
themselves upon them, the most formidable of the defences ; 
but, undisciplined and commanded by officers who knew little 
of their duty, who drove them on, never led them, they then 
got into confusion, and fled, a disorderly mob. They suffered 
fearfully in their flight ; the guns which they had captured, but 
had not attempted to disable, were turned upon them, and 
nearly fifteen thousand dead and dying strewed the plain in 
front. 

That battle of the Bellaco may be said to have annihilated the 
Spanish race in Paraguay. In the front ranks were the males 
of all the best families in the country, and they were killed 
almost to a man ; hundreds of families, in the capital especially, 
had not a husband, father, son, or brother left. Old men who 
had been left in Humaita, Indians, slaves, and boys now filled 
the attenuated ranks of the national army. 

The Allies made no attempt to follow up their success, but 
only too thankful that they had not been swept into the river, 
hoped that Lopez would now sue for peace. But he was not a 
man to be disheartened, even by so crushing a defeat, and at 
once set to work fortifying his position, and in all haste collected 
the few men who had hitherto escaped the conscription. He 
drew a triple line of parapets and stockaded ditches across the 
narrow strip of land he held between the Rio Paraguay and the 
marshes which protected his left ; and threw up a strong earth- 
work at Curuzu, on his extreme right overlooking the river. 

The Allies did nothing for nearly four months afterwards, when 
assured of the trustworthiness of their iron-clads, they moved 
them up the river, destroyed the little battery of Itapirii and cap- 
tured Curuzu, after a severe struggle, on the 2nd of September, 
and again sat down to congratulate themselves, to rest and be 
thankful. 

They gave Lopez a fortnight to reorganize his forces and 
strengthen the already formidable lines of Curupaity, which 
would have been formidable to the best troops in the world, and 
much more so to men commanded by a general so utterly incom- 



134 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAKAGUAY. 

petent as Caxias ; who now had not his usual excuse of want of 
information to offer ; for the Paraguayan position was not only 
examined in the ordinary way, but a balloon was called into 
requisition, and from that aerial point of vantage the lines were 
repeatedly reconnoitred. 

However, on the 22nd of September, 1866, the Allies stormed 
the lines, but were repulsed with great slaughter. It was the 
story of the Bellaco over again, only changing sides. The 
Brazilians carried the first two lines, but at the third wavered, 
turned and fled, and were terribly cut up before they could get 
out of range. 

If Lopez could have left the shelter of his works, he might 
then have finished the war ; but he dared not trust such an army 
as he then had in the open field. His best men had all perished, 
his forces had melted to a fourth of their original strength, 
although the conscription had been sending recruits faster than 
he could find arms — on the battle-field — for them. All within 
the ages of ten and sixty years had been taken ; the teeth of the 
rake were set closer at every sweep, and nearly two hundred 
thousand males had been drawn from a total population of less 
than a million ! And of this multitude scarcely twenty thousand 
remained : 80,000 men died in the hospitals from disease, or 
rather from bad and scanty food and want of the commonest 
necessaries of life ; 12,000 were lost through the unfortunate 
expedition of Estigarribia ; the rest had perished in battle, or 
had been taken prisoners. The Allies tried to utilize the latter 
by forming a Paraguayan Legion, incorporated with the Argen- 
tine forces ; and it is stated, I fear truthfully, that they shot 
many who did not ' ' volunteer " to fight against their own people. 
Be that as it may, the result was a very unsatisfactory one, the 
Paraguayans took every opportunity of deserting ; for, as I have 
said, love of home and of country is a passion with them. In a 
skirmish near Estero Bellaco, the advance guard consisted of 
700 of their new allies, a portion of the forces of Estigarribia, 
and they went over to a man, taking their arms with them, 
directly they caught sight of their own flag. Lopez repaid their 



EAID ON PASO-CHANAR. 



135 



devotion by shooting all the more respectable amongst them, 
for not returning sooner. 

On the 3rd of November a desperate attempt was made to 
destroy the magazines of the Allies at a place called Paso-Chanar, j 
then their head- quarters. In the grey of the morning a force of 
8,000 Paraguayans fell upon the camp, so suddenly that the 
drowsy sentinels were bayoneted at their posts, and their foes 
were burning the stores of the Argentines before an alarm had 
been sounded. Fortunately for the Allies, however, the starving 
Paraguayans came upon some suttlers' huts, and stopped to 
plunder them ; this gave the Brazilians time to come up ; they 
fell upon the now disorderly crowd of marauders, and routed 
them with immense loss. The Paraguayans left 3,000 dead on 
the field, but the singularity of the affair is, that although routed 
they managed to capture some of the field-pieces of the con- 
querors. The Hon. Mr. Pakenham writes to Lord Stanley : — 
"A curious incident connected with the recent engagement is, 
that the vanquished seized, and were able to carry off several 
pieces of artillery belonging to the victors ; a proceeding unusual, 
I believe, in modern military annals." 

Although hard and obstinate fighting had been the rule, diplo- 
macy was not forgotten. The Brazilians had tried theirs, 
characteristically, by offering large rewards to deserters, and 
Lopez retaliated by putting their captured officers to the front to 
persuade their men to run away. A wretched little Brazilian 
lieutenant, who had distinguished himself in this way, and was 
set at liberty in the capital to watch Mr. Washburn as a reward 
for his services, told me, with many contortions of countenance, 
how his eloquence was stimulated on these occasions by a bay- 
onet in the rear. " Habla, hombre ! speak up, man ! shout to 
the cambas ! " the delighted Paraguayans used to cry to the un- 
happy wretch on the parapet before them, prodding his legs at 
every word. 

In September, 1866, after the capture of Curuzu, Lopez tried 
negotiations of a more regular character, and proposed a 
personal conference between himself and President Mitre, 



136 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



Generalissimo of the allied army ; which was acceded to, and the 
meeting, which promised the happiest results, took place on the 
2nd of that month. But no good came of it. Lopez consented 
to treat on the basis that the Allies should withdraw from Para- 
guay, he doing the same from Mato Grosso, and that the 
question of boundaries should be settled by arbitration. These 
conditions were at once rejected, the Allies insisting, as a sine 
qua non, that Lopez should resign the presidentship, and leave 
Paraguay. The next day he wrote that the people would not 
allow him to accept such terms, that he could not abandon a 
country which he loved so dearly, and so on, and the corre- 
spondence was broken off. After the disaster of Curupaity, 
of course any hope of an arrangement was impossible ; the 
pride of the Brazilians and Argentines had been too deeply 
wounded. 

The ' ' Semanario" was filled for weeks afterwards with patri- 
otic addresses and laudations of the President, praising him 
especially for the generosity and humanity he had shown in 
offering terms of peace to his demoralized and perishing enemies, 
and declaring that they (the Paraguayans) would all die ere he 
should leave their fatherland, of which he was the glory and the 
saviour. Unwittingly they spoke the truth. 

These addresses served as a pretext for demanding fresh con- 
tributions, and the women were stripped of the little jewelry 
they still possessed, for making the massive gold covers of an 
album, containing the signatures of those whose sentiments were 
supposed to be recorded in them. At the same time two flags 
richly embroidered in gold and with stars of brilliants and other 
precious stones in the centres ; a sword of honour, in a jewelled 
case, both of massive gold ; and a wreath of the same precious 
metal, were also made for him. A large sum of money remained 
in hand, and this was intended for the purchase of a tiara and a 
marshal's staff in Europe; but it was sent to Paris when Mons. 
Cuverville left the country. When finished, six of the most 
prominent men left in the capital went down to the Paso Pucii 
to present it, and their fate must have encouraged the others. 



THE IRON-CLADS PASS HTJMAITA. 



137 



Two of them Were shot for " want of patriotism" within a week 
of their arrival, one was left in irons, one died from cholera, and 
two returned. * 

The story of the fall of these men is so characteristic that it is 
worth telling. Each of them read a written speech which had 
been carefully prepared for him ; but, even with the paper in 
their hands, they had so completely lost their self-possession 
that they stumbled and hesitated like schoolboys over their task ; 
this put Lopez greatly out of temper, and one of them, named 
Urbieta, a simple old country gentleman, tried an improvised 
cheer to mend matters ; but, thinking principally of what he 
ought to avoid, he shouted lustily, " Viva Don Pedro ! " (the Em- 
I peror of Brazil) instead of " Don Francisco Solano." He was 
instantly arrested, and was executed a few days afterwards as a 
traitor. 

The Allies were so disheartened by the repulse from Curu- 
paity that they confined themselves to a strict blockade of the 
river, and a feeble and badly directed fire from the iron-clads, 
until the 15th of August , 1867, when ten monitors passed the 
batteries of that place, and anchored about a mile below Hu- 
. maita, which they did not venture to pass in turn until after the 
usual six months' rest and consideration. 

In the August of 1866, an American, named Manlove, and 
late a Confederate major of cavalry, presented himself to Lopez 
as a volunteer ; but he met with a chilling reception, for his 
history had preceded him. Lopez, it seems, had friends in the 
camp of the Allies. Newspapers were pretty regularly con- 
veyed to him, and one printed in Buenos Ayres spoke of Major 
Manlove as a crack shot in the Argentine service, who was 
going to pick off Paraguayan officers. He laid, however, an 
ingenious scheme before Lopez, which, if adopted, might even 
then have changed very materially the aspect of the war. He 
asked a commission to fit out privateers in the Antilles to prey 

♦ They were Don Satunino Bedoya, Paymaster-General (a brother-in-law of 
Lopez), Don Venancio Urbieta, Chief of Yaguaron ; Don Pedro Barrios (brother 
of the General), and three others whose names I have forgotten. 



138 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



upon the Allies, attacking in preference merchant vessels. He 
did not ask money, or only sufficient to take him home via 
Bolivia and Panama, and one or more Paraguayan officers might 
accompany him as subordinate commanders. He stated that 
he had two vessels ready, and they would start as soon as he 
had letters of marque to distinguish him from unauthorized 
pirates. 

Lopez, however, would not trust him. He was looked upon 
as a spy, kept in prison for some time, then liberated and sent 
to the capital, where he received pay for a few months from 
the Government; but in 1868 he was again arrested, and was 
shot towards the close of the year. 

I may remark that a general distrust of those around him, 
even of those who were most strongly bound to him by ties 
of blood or self-interest, was a distinguishing feature in the 
character of Lopez, and one which materially hastened, if it did 
\ not occasion, his downfall. If, before beginning the war, he 
had frankly stated to the chief engineer, Mr. Whytehead, that 
such an event would take place, and asked his aid, I am certain 
that he would have received most valuable assistance. The 
country, strongly protected by nature, might have been made 
almost impregnable ; and the terrible mortality which almost 
destroyed the army before it took the field would have been 
prevented if the aid of the medical officers had been sought, and 
their advice taken. But " the gods first make mad those they 
would destroy," and the punishment of his crimes seemed but 
the shadow of them. 

From the first, the most important and zealous help was 
given him by the English engineers in his service ; for, although 
we all heartily disliked Lopez, the Paraguayans, as a people, 
could but claim both our aid and our sympathies, from their 
bravery, their devotion, and their cheerful obedience. It was 
one example of the perplexing state of " those distracted coun- 
tries " that the very help we gave our friends was the cruellest 
wrong we could do them ; for a crushing defeat at the beginning 
of the war would have been an incalculable advantage to them. 



RIVER DEFENCES. 



139 



One of the oldest defences of Humaita was a chain stretched 
across the river, many years before, by Don Carlos Lopez. 
When hostilities commenced two others were added, and the 
three were supported by lighters, and strained taut by capstans 
on shore. The lighters also served as floating prisons, and in 
one of them Padre Corbelan was immured. Rows of piles were 
also added ; but the latter generally failed from the necessity of 
fishing them when the river was high. A large number of tor- 
pedoes were laid down, some of most formidable dimensions ; 
but the greater number were exploded by drift-wood brought 
down by the floods, or perhaps by inquisitive alligators. 

When the war commenced the heaviest guns in Paraguay 
were 68-pounder smooth bores ; but some excellent rifled guns 
were made in the arsenal by the English workmen, especially 
a 150-pounder Whitworth, cast from the metal of the church 
bells. The Brazilians furnished them with shot ; but thousands 
of pounds' worth of costly machinery was melted down for mis- 
siles, nevertheless. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ARREST OF DR. RHIND AND MR. SURGEON FOX MY OWN 

IMPRISONMENT. 

Our work meanwhile went on as usual. The hospital at Asuncion 
was ever overcrowded, in spite of the fearful mortality, which 
our utmost efforts seemed powerless to check, and my own 
health was giving way, through the excessive strain upon my 
bodily and mental powers, and for several days at a time I had 
to keep my bed from utter exhaustion. In addition to my 
hospital duties, I had lately taken charge of the English women, 
the wives of the mechanics, and their children. The costliness 
and scarcity of food was beginning to tell upon them, also, and 
many were seriously ill. 

The month of October, 1866, had commenced, and we were 
looking forward with anxiety to the probable effect of the hot 
weather on the inmates of the already pestilential wards, little 
thinking that we should soon have to leave them, almost unaided, 
to their fate. On the 8th of that month I had been out for a 
short ride, a luxury I could then rarely indulge in, and on my 
return found Dr. Rhind in a state of considerable uneasiness. 

A telegram had been received from Paso Pucu, ordering him 
and Mr. Fox to visit the Lady President together at seven p.m. 
The order arrived only shortly before that hour, and Dr. Rhind 
went immediately in search of his colleague, but could not find 
him until half-past eight o'clock. They then went down to her 
house ; but the old lady was in a very bad humour, and refused 
to see them. The next morning they went again, but with the 



ARREST OF MY COLLEAGUES. 



141 



same result. Shortly afterwards an order came from Surgeon- 
Major Stewart, written by command oi the President, requiring 
them to state severally why they were absent from duty, and 
what they were doing the previous afternoon. They did so, but 
the answer of Mr. Fox was considered so unsatisfactory that 
Lopez sent an order to Mayor-de-Plaza Gromez to put them 
both under arrest. Poor Rhind, who was consumptive and then 
very weak and ill, came to me in great distress, and told me that 
the major had sent for him, and added, " I am certain they are 
going to put me in prison. I cannot bear it. I shall never come 
out alive." I tried to cheer him up, not very successfully, for I 
was as anxious as he, and feared the worst. 

All day I worked as usual, but my thoughts were with my 
absent friend. In the evening his adjutant came up to tell me that 
he was a prisoner, and that I was to take charge of the Hospital 
General, which then contained eight hundred wounded ; whilst 
Teniente Ortellado, an old native practitioner, completely igno- 
rant of surgery, and indeed of almost all else, was left in charge 
of the Estanco and San Francisco hospitals in the city. Alto- 
gether, more than fifteen hundred wounded, including convales- 
cents, were left in our care and of a few practicantes, native medi- 
cal students. The next morning I received an open note from Mr. 
Fox, asking me to go down to see him and take charge of his 
keys. I went immediately, saw the Mayor-de-Plaza, who told me 
very gruffly that they were " incomunicable " that is, not permitted 
to be seen. I begged him to endeavour to obtain an exception 
in my favour, and he promised to do so. Dr. Rhind had acci- 
dentally taken with him a knife of mine which I wanted for an 
operation ; I availed myself of this as an excuse to send, through 
the Minister of "War, a letter (open, of course, and in Spanish), 
asking for it, but really to assure him that I would send him all 
he needed, and serve him in any possible way. 

A fortnight passed away ; I worked literally day and night, 
for I had a presentiment that J should soon follow my colleagues, 
and was anxious to- leave as little to be done as possible ; and Iper- 
formed more serious operations in that time than I had ever hoped 



142 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



to have the good fortune to meet with in the whole of my life. 
It was well for me that I had so much to engross my attention ; 
for when I saw the misery around me, and reflected how much 
of it would have been relieved but for the arrest of my friends, 
I was scarcely able to restrain the expression of my indignation, 
an exhibition of which would have been as dangerous to them 
as to me. I was always thinking of Dr. Khind, however, and 
of the wretchedness he must be enduring. 

On the morning of the 22nd, my friend Mons. Laurent- Coche- 
let, the French consul, sent me a packet of letters, which had 
been sent through the lines by the Imperial Charge d'Affaires to 
Paso Pucu, and which he had brought up with him to Asuncion. 
Two were for me, the rest for Dr. Khind. I was delighted with my 
own, for two years had elapsed since I hadlast heard from home, 
and also with the thought of how cheered and amused my 
old friend would be if he could only get his. So I buckled on 
my sword, and went down directly to the Mayoria. The great 
man was engaged, the adjutant said ; I must wait. I waited for 
two hours in the sun, vexed at the loss of so much valuable time, 
and then found that he was simply engaged watching the game 
of sortijd. He was seated with the chief of police and another 
officer, when I went up to him, and asked if he had yet received 
an answer to my application, through him, for permission to 
visit my friend. " No," said he ; " why are you so anxious to 
see him?" " Because I hear he is ill, and he is, I know, 
anxious to see me." I then went on to say that I had received, 
through the French consul, a packet of letters from his family 
for him, and was most desirous to deliver them personally. I 
knew that unless I did so he would not receive them. " Give 
those letters to me," the mayor said, sternly. " Sen or," I replied, 
quietly, "I cannot do that, they are private letters, unless I get 
an order from him to do so." " Teriho " (go), said he, in an 
angry tone, " and do not trouble me again." I told him that it 
was the last favour I should ask of him, and went. But the 
danger of my position did not for a moment occur to me. 

In the evening I rode over to the consulate, to tell M. Cochelet 



I AM ARRESTED. 



143 



what had happened ; but he was at dinner, so saying that I 
would return later, I went on to visit a native friend. On the 
road an officer met nie, and, with great politeness, said the 
Mayor-de-Plaza wished to see me, and that I was to take the 
letters. I went directly, thinking that permission had arrived 
for visiting Dr. Khind, but soon found how grievously I had 
mistaken.* As soon as Gomez saw me he shouted, " I order 
you under arrest." ' ' Indeed, senor," said I; "why? and 
until when?" "That you will know to-morrow. Have you 
the letters?" I assented. " Take care of them." A squad 
of men, with fixed bayonets, came to the door, and I was 
marched off between them, through the guard-room, across the 
great courtyard, and through a narrow passage into a cell, on 
the floor of which a candle was burning. And then the full 
horror of my position burst upon me : I was a prisoner. 

I sat down and asked the officer who brought me in for a 
cigar, which he gave me. I told him I was hungry, not having 
dined, and he promised that some food should be sent for. 
I then, as far as the dim light of the candle allowed me, ex- 
amined my dungeon. It was about twelve feet by eight, the 
walls of rough brickwork ; from a heavy column in the centre 
of the wall sprung two arches, and above them the roof at a 
considerable height, of palm trunks, and tiles laid in earth. The 
floor was of mud, full of hollows, cold and wet. The only fur- 
niture, a catre, that is, a hide stretched on a wooden frame, 
and a broken chair. 

I had been up all the night before with a difficult surgical 
case, and when I had eaten my supper I threw myself on the 
rude bed, in my clothes, and was soon soundly sleeping. 

I was awakened in the morning by the band playing the reveille, 
as usual, at four o'clock. I lay awake some hours : I could hear 
that it was raining heavily outside, but no daylight appeared. 
In truth, as I soon found, my prison was so situated that, except 
in bright weather, I should live almost in darkness. The large 
door was wide open ; but as it looked only into a long arched 
* People were rarely arrested publicly. 



144 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



passage connecting the two courtyards of the Colegio (for I was 
within the old Jesuit college), all the light I could get would be 
that reflected from the wall. There had once been a window, 
but it was now jealously blocked up; the ledge, however, 
remained, and made me a V3ry useful shelf. 

About ten in the morning a sergeant came in, and ordered me 
to follow him. I did so, and was taken to a small room, in the 
front of the building. I found there Capt. Silva, an alferez,* a 
sergeant, and Senor Ortellado, a notary. By the former I was 
I sworn on a sword, and then examined very tediously by the 
latter for several hours. Written questions were read to me ; 
my answers were taken down on loose sheets, and then copied 
on stamped paper. I was first asked a number of formal ques- 
tions about my name, age, birthplace, religion, and so on, and 
then if I knew why I had been arrested. No. Did I not know' 
that it was the first duty of a soldier to obey his superiors ? 
Yes, certainly ; but I was not a soldier, my rank being honorary. 
Was I in the service of the republic ? Yes, but without a con- 
tract, and in a non-military capacity. Did I not know that it 
was forbidden by law to deliver letters which had not passed 
through the post-office ? No, I had never seen or heard of such 
a law, nor had I even infringed it, since I had not delivered the 
letters. Would send them there, if permitted, and would, of 
course, pay the postage. He then asked me if I had the letters, 
and ordered me to give them up. I demurred, questioning their 
right to deprive me of them, as they had not shown me by what 
authority they were acting. Capt. Silva told the. sergeant to 
put a set of grillos (fetters) on the table. Taking the hint, for, 
of course resistance was out of the question, I gave up the let- 
ters. I was then examined, at great length, about my private 
correspondence, the people I wrote to, where they lived, and so 
on. Why did I refuse to obey the orders of the Mayor-de 
Plaza ? Because I considered that he had no right to deprive 
me of private letters, and because, if I had done so, he would 
not have given them to the owner ; for he had already taken 
* An ensign. 



" SENTINELA ALEKTA ! " 



145 



one letter of mine, with a distinct promise that he would de- 
liver it to Dr. Bhind, and had not done so. How did I know 
that ? Because it urgently needed an answer, which he had not 
sent, and his servant, who saw him every day, told me that he 
had not had it. 

I was sent back to my prison until the evening, when, the 
said servant having been examined, and denying that he had 
said anything to me about the letter (he was afraid to speak the 
truth), I was called again. 

Ortellado asked me how I dared give false evidence. I re- 
plied that Englishmen were not in the habit of doing so, and that 
my word was surely more credible than that of a servant. But, 
not wishing to involve the man in any difficulty, for that would 
inconvenience Dr. Ehind himself, I said that as he spokebut little 
Spanish, and I still less Guarani, I might have mistaken him. 

The day was almost spent, and I passed from the ruddy sun- 
set into utter darkness when I returned to my cell ; shortly 
afterwards, however, they brought me a candle set in a little 
earthen cup, and I then found that some bedding had been sent 
me from my quarters, with a basin, a water jar, and a chair. I 
soon went to bed, but not to sleep, the physical fatigue had passed 
off, the mental only excited me, and I then discovered a source 
of wretchedness, which to this day I cannot think of without hor- 
ror, but which I had been too weary to notice the night before. 

Near the threshold, but in the passage, stood, day and night, 
a sentry armed with musket and bayonet, and relieved every 
two hours ; a more effectual guard than bolts or bars. He 
stood facing me, and about eight feet from my bed ; and from 
nine o'clock at night until the reveille sounded the next morning, 
every quarter of an hour, shouted, " Sentinela alertal" at the 
top of his voice, to show that he was not sleeping. This start- 
ling cry was taken up in succession by the others, in the chain of 
sentries, within and without the prison, and by the time the last 
had finished the first began again. It was terrible! To be 
thus awakened by a sudden yell, all hope of sound and peaceful 
sleep destroyed, and the painful consciousness that I was a pri- 

10 



146 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



soner perpetually forced upon me, was a cruel torture. Never 
shall I be able to efface it from my memory. 

Often have I passed the whole night pacing wearily the short 
length of my prison, or lying with my fingers firmly pressed 
up my ears, lest I should fall asleep but to be awakened by that 
dreaded cry. For months I only slept every third night. 

To return to my examination. The next day I was called to 
hear the evidence read over to me from beginning to end. 
When it was being taken I noticed that Captain Silva and the 
notary frequently left the room with the papers, and I now 
found why they had done so. My replies, nominally copied 
from the loose sheets, had been grossly distorted ; all that 
tended to exculpate me was omitted ; and they had inserted a 
fictitious confession of guilt, that I had asked pardon for my 
offences, and that I had stated that I was willing to bear any 
punishment awarded me ! 

I need scarcely say that I had neither confessed nor said 
anything of the kind, for it was contrary to the whole tenor of 
my replies and to the truth. I protested in the strongest language 
against these misstatements and the unworthy treatment I was 
enduring after my long and zealous services ; and said, that instead 
of fairly examining me, they had only sought to find me guilty. 

I told them that I was aware that ignorance of a law did not ex- 
cuse its evasion, but I neither knew that there was any such re- 
gulation concerning the delivery of letters, nor had I even broken 
it. I had not delivered the letters to Dr. Ehind, and I con- 
sidered that I had a perfect right to receive them from M. 
Cocheiet ; for they had been sent to him under a flag of truce 
with despatches by the French secretary of legation, and 
brought from Paso Pucu by the consul . himself ; and under 
such circumstances I considered that they need not to have 
been sent to the office ; if, however, they ought to have been, 
it was clear that the consul should have sent them, and not I. 

Moreover, I had received many letters, official and private, 
from Humaita and Paso Pucii, many forwarded by the Mayor- 
de-Plaza himself, others by the captain of the port, and none 



CONDEMNED. 



147 



of them had ever passed through the post-office or been stamped. 
I knew perfectly well, when I made this defence, that it was 
useless, in so far as preventing my condemnation was concerned ; 
but I hoped that one of them — Captain Silva especially, who 
seemed greatly struck by my argument — would report it to 
Lopez, and that the injustice with which I was being treated 
would be brought home to him. For, up to that time, I had 
received no ill-treatment from him, and thought that, as an 
Englishman, and one who had faithfully served him several years, 
I should be soon set at liberty. Without a reply Ortellado told 
me to sign the depositions. I declined to do so, saying that 
they knew that they were falsified and unjust to me. He called 
my attention to the irons again, and at the same time assured 
me that if I would give them no further trouble I should be 
set at liberty in a few days. Seeing that it was useless to 
resist, and dreading the severities to which I should have been 
exposed had I been put in irons — deprived of bed and chair, 
and with only a hide on the ground to sit or lie upon — I 
reluctantly signed the papers. 

I have much pleasure in adding, that Captain Silva treated 
me with uniform politeness and consideration, evidently obeying 
the instructions he had received unwillingly. He promptly 
checked the insolence with which the ensign began to treat me, 
said how pleased he had been with my kindness to the sick, 
gave me some cigars, and shook hands with me warmly as I 
left, — never to see him again. He died from cholera, poor 
fellow, shortly afterwards. 

I knew at the time of my arrest that this affair of the letters 
was but a pretext for punishing me, for I had been warned by 
an influential friend that I had fallen into disgrace, and that an 
opportunity to do so was alone waited for ; he dared not, how- 
ever, write me what my offence really was, and it is only since 
my return to England that I have learnt how I had incurred the 
anger of Lopez. I have mentioned that the sudden death of 
Mr. Atherton was regarded with great suspicion ; indeed, at 
the time it was very generally believed by the natives that he 



148 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAEAGUAY. 



had been poisoned by order of the Dictator. How this rumour 
commenced I cannot tell, but I am certain that I had no part in 
originating it ; however, I got the credit of having done so, 
and Lopez never forgave me for it. Moreover, my intimacy 
with the French Consul, and especially with the Corbalan 
family, was an offence in his eyes. 

And now the weary monotonous life of a prisoner was before 
me. At first I regarded it with a dread and horror that did not 
allow me to think what it might be and how long it should last ; 
but I never gave way to despair : I tried to view it as a phase of 
my life that, like sickness or a broken limb, must needs be borne ; 
and except when incipient delirium from low fever and nervous 
exhaustion made me almost frantic for a few hours, I suffered 
with a patience and calmness I had scarcely hoped for. I 
gradually became accustomed to the dim light reflected from the 
wall of the passage, and in clear weather could see to read for 
several hours a day. But when the sky was overcast, and until 
the sun was high, I was in a gloom so deep that, to any one 
entering from without it would have seemed total darkness. 
My only fear was that the damp would affect my health ; for 
the mud floor was beneath the level of the courtyard, and the 
walls, the beams, and even my mattress on its under side, were 
covered with fungoid growths, green and slimy with mouldi- 
ness, and with an odour so earthy that I could but think of 
those to whom it had probably been both a prison and a grave. 
It was miserably cold, but they would not let me have a blanket 
from my quarters, and sent only a tattered piece of red baize, 
which had long done duty as a table-cover, in place of it. 

My companions in misfortune were lodged in the courtyard 
beyond me. Mr. Fox had quite a cheerful room outside, he 
told me afterwards, where he could see the senoritas going to 
church, and sometimes even a handkerchief waved towards him. 
Dr. Rhind was nearer to me, but in more lightsome quarters. 
He heard from a sentry of my imprisonment, and one Sunday 
morning chanted Jackson's " Te Deum " right through, to let 
me know of his whereabouts. 



PEESOS. 



149 



Next to my cell was an open corridor, where a great many- 
prisoners were confined in chains, which all day long clanked 
dismally, and often in the night I heard them clash suddenly 
when the jwesos were startled in their sleep by the cry of the 
sentries. Now and then I caught sight of them through a chink 
in the thick boards which covered the window, and sometimes 
they passed to the great quadrangle through the passage in 
front of my door. They were of all ages, some very old men, 
others but boys, but all reduce^ to the last stage of emaciation, 
mere brown skin and bone. All had one pair of heavy fetters 
rivetted on their ankles, rough with callosities and cicatrices of 
old wounds, several two ; and one man bore on his skeleton- 
like legs three heavy bars, which swung creaking backwards 
and forwards as he slowly shuffled along. Yet they were not 
half so wretched as one would have thought ; they used to 
laugh and sing, and have clattering, staggering races in their 
narrow den. 

One of them — I think it must have been he with the triple 
grillos, for he had such a droll face — used to tell endless stories 
(I could faintly hear the murmur of the words through the 
thick walls), which were received with bursts of laughter * 
and a rattling of fetters, which reminded me of that terrible 
scene in " Les Miserables," where the " chain " in their 
mad desperation make the early morning hideous with shouts 
and clashing irons. They were allowed to do this by the 
sentries, who enjoyed the stories and jokes as much as they, 
and gave them notice when an officer was coming. One 
day, however, they were all so interested in some story of great 
facetiousness that they did not hear the usual "charque " (look 
out !) and the grim old comandante himself came upon them 
whilst they were all screaming with laughter at the climax. They 
were silent in a moment ! A hushed stillness succeeded to the 
uproar, and I could almost feel that they were pale with terror. 
The comandante said not a word, but walked back, and soon 
returned with a squad of soldiers. The unfortunate story- 
teller was thrown on the ground, and flogged severely ; his 



150 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



yells made the place ring again : and two or three of his most 
vehement applauders shared the same fate. They were as still 
as mice for days afterwards. 

Every week or so, one and another of them would be taken 
out to the patio to be flogged. These were sad days for me, I 
dreaded their coming, and did not recover from the pain they 
occasioned me for many hours afterwards. I think the fact of 
hearing, without being able to see the infliction of their punish- 
ments, made them more terrible. To hear the dull, heavy thud 
of the stick wielded by those stalwart, pitiless corporals, and 
to know that it was descending on living flesh quivering in 
agony, made me faint and sick with horror. As a surgeon I 
was, they told me, one of the coolest of operators, and yet 
these sounds used to unnerve me completely the whole day 
through. I then little thought that I should one day have to 
suffer a worse punishment ! 

I was not quite alone in my dungeon, but my companions 
were of a class I would have gladly dispensed w 7 ith. Centi- 
pedes, scorpions, and toads ; the latter so big, so cold and 
hideous, that the strongest minded of women might have 
screamed at them without a blush. Personally, I do not object 
to toads, and often laughed heartily enough at the fright I have 
given my native friends, who believe in the old-world error that 
they are venomous, by tenderly handling specimens I could 
scarcely put in my hat for obesity. But to put the naked 
foot upon one in searching for a slipper in the dark is not 
agreeable, and the extraordinary sounds they emit in the 
dead of night do not tend to make them pleasant com- 
panions. The first I have named, however, were far worse: 
to centipedes and scorpions I have an intense aversion, and 
the fact of catching three fine examples of the latter inter- 
esting creatures on my bed in one week did not reduce it. I 
found, moreover, that I was not alone in my dread of them. 
One afternoon I saw a dozen or more cockroaches hurrying in 
evident terror out of a hole in the wall ; they tumbled out in 
the most reckless way in the very best lighted part of the place; 



AN ALLY. 



151 



and I despatched them as fast as they sprawled on the floor — 
for next to a centipede I think I detest a cockroach, and they 
are one of the plagues of South America — wondering greatly 
what would follow, expecting a snake, when out came a pair 
of large scorpions, male and female, with stings erect, and 
looking the most vicious creatures imaginable. I inserted my 
cigar deftly into the hole to bar their retreat, and then watched 
their proceedings. They stopped for a moment near the edge 
of it, and then hastily and in some amazement searched in a 
wide circle round it for the routed cockroaches. Not finding 
their prey, they in turn became frightened, and tried to escape, 
but retributive Justice, represented by my slipper, descended 
and crushed them to atoms. 

I was surprised to see that a spider, which had established 
herself in a hole in a post near my bed, was more than a match 
for them, and how readily the strong-jointed, sting-bearing tail 
was bound down, harmless and motionless. Several small 
scorpions, and one large one, were destroyed by my watchful 
ally. She afterwards took to laying ; and, wishing to test the 
fecundity of spiders, I several times removed the ball of eggs 
(almost as large as herself) as soon as it was finished, and six 
times was it replaced in a few weeks. Her relatives were 
numerous in my gloomy lodging ; in fact, looking at the con- 
dition of the massive beams and rafters overhead (a long chink 
under the eaves permitted a straggling gleam of daylight to fall 
upon them, and show me how thickly they were draped with 
the dingiest of cobwebs) and the rough walls covered with a 
threadbare tapestry of their weaving, I could almost say that I 
lived in one huge cobweb, with a most thriving and industrious 
family of spinners around me. They did not all spin, but, like 
the great hairy nyande,* a spider which looks more than a match 

* Aranea avicularia, of which it used to be said that it caught small birds in 
its huge webs and fed upon them. The fact is, however, that it does not spin 
any web at all, but, as stated in the text, catches its prey by suddenly springing 
upon it ; its venom is very powerful, and will produce considerable inflammation 
in the human subject. 



152 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



for a linnet, there were several "which depended upon their 
address and agility for securing a meal ; arid they fell upon 
their prey so suddenly that they seemed to have leaped into 
existence at the very spot where they were first seen. One 
especially, a grey, flattened spider, with a body as large and 
scarcely thicker than a shilling, and with striped limbs, also 
compressed vertically, moved with a celerity which was really 
marvellous, and could shoot into cracks so narrow that it 
seemed to sink into the wall itself. I found, however, that by 
bringing my finger down slowly and perpendicularly I could 
pinion it, and one very large one, which I thus caught several 
times in the same long afternoon, at length ceased to struggle, 
and let me stroke it, I think, with positive pleasure. Its 
apparently rough body, which I imagined to be covered with 
cartilaginous plates, was really as soft as velvet, the attachments 
of the septa which preserved its curiously compressed form 
caused the allusion. But the proceedings of a smaller kind, 
not larger indeed than a grain of rape seed, amused me the 
most. They wove little silky webs over every minute depression 
in the wall, with an oval opening on each side, through which 
they sprang out if anything touched the threads. They used, 
when game was scarce, to run around the outsides of their 
lodgings, and make visits to, or rather precipitate descents upon, 
each other ; one starting out of its hole, and the intruder taking 
its place, to be rapidly ejected in turn. This diversion they 
would keep up for hours at a time. I fancy it was a sort of 
flirtation with serious intentions, but whether of a matrimonial 
or cibarious character, I never ascertained. 

I lived in constant dread of being bitten or stung by some 
of these venomous creatures ; but except those of the genus 
cimex, not one during those many months molested me. The 
place was too damp for fleas to exist in, so I escaped one of the 
plagues of the torrid zone. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



PEISON LIFE EELEASE OF DE. EHIND AND ME. FOX — - 

LIBEEATION. 

At first I saw no one but the sergeant and a felon who brought 
me my daily meals. They never spoke to me, and when I 
asked for anything I needed, intimated compliance or the reverse 
by a nod or a shake of the head. One day, about a month after 
my arrest, a soldier came in place of the convict, a fact I 
ascertained by the absence of the clank of irons as he entered, 
for it was too dark then to see much of their dress or features. 
The next day the same man made his appearance, and the 
weather being then fine and bright, I recognized, to my great 
joy, my old servant Tomas. He was greatly affected at the 
sight of me ; the plates clattered together as he set them out 
on my bed, which served me as a table as well ; and in a husky 
whisper he asked, " Como esta usted, mi senor ? " " Quite 
well, • Tomas, thank you." I should have added more, and 
longed — how eagerly ! — to ask about my friends ; but the ser- 
geant growlingly told him to begone, and not talk to me. He 
came, however, every day afterwards, often groping his way 
in with outstretched hand, after leaving the bright sunlight, 
whilst I, accustomed to the darkness, could see the mice playing 
even in the farthest corner. We were sometimes allowed to 
speak a few words, or rather he might answer me, never 
venturing a question himself ; the sergeant, meanwhile, stand- 
ing with a drawn sword between us, to prevent any closer 
communication. 



154 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



He was a faithful servant, and greatly attached to me, always 
speaking of me as " taita " (father), and, except in the case of 
sugar — which no Indian can resist pilfering — honest enough ; 
he took great care of my personal property, and was furious 
because the comandante used to ride my horse. 

Shortly afterwards another boon was accorded me. Major 
Gomez came to inspect me officially, and I begged him to let 
me have books and wine. The long days would be greatly 
shortened if I could only study, or even pore aimlessly over a 
well-known page, and I was getting so weak and emaciated 
that the latter was imperatively necessary. He granted both. 
I had plenty of books and a fair stock of wine, and I got them, 
grudgingly at first, afterwards without difficulty. 

So I used to lie in bed till noon, and read and doze alternately ; 
for my nights were often sleepless, and it was only in the morn- 
ing that I could hope for a few hours' undisturbed rest. Singu- 
larly enough, my dreams were never, or very rarely, of the 
scenes around me ; I half heard the noise of relieving guards, 
and the busy hum and hammering in the workshops above me ; 
but they took other tones, and called up strange associations, 
usually of my former life, and far away home ; I often awoke 
laughing at some droll absurdity my vagrant fancy had conjured 
up, and then how blankly terrible the weary day and restless 
night would seem before me ! Breakfast arrived about eight 
o'clock ; but I kept in bed, and read, if there were sufficient 
light, till twelve. Then I had a " tub " under difficulties, jfor 
my bath was too big for the cell, and would have used too much 
water ; and I had only a basin — luckily not a French one — and 
a cantarillo, a globular water-jar with two necks, holding but a 
small supply. This operation was an endless source of wonder- 
ment to the sentries and passers-by. A prisoner washing ! 
Why, they would have as soon thought of bathing when sick„ 
when the most ignorant of them knew perfectly well that it 
would be certain death to wet but the finger-tips under such 
circumstances I* 

* By the way, when I was coming up the river the first time in the Para- 



PKISON LIFE. 



155 



I had dinner about two, it was often a good one, for a native 
family I had been intimate with most generously and courage- 
ously cooked for me, and did a thousand other little acts of kind- 
ness ; and then I smoked two cigars, and read again till dusk. 

When tired of reading, and during the long interval between 
the close of my day and the arrival of the lantern, which 
announced the beginning of the outer night, I used to pace from 
end to end of my prison, and I formed thus a broad beaten 
path. The sentries were greatly amused at my restlessness, for 
a native would never think of making any exertion merely to 
pass time away ; if he could not get a cigar, he would lie down, 
and sleep like a dormouse : so they cried out to passers-by, 
" Mire que quartz, what a racoon that fellow is ! never still ; he 
prowls about half the night." 

Whilst walking thus backwards and forwards, I amused my- 
self by delivering, in silence, peripatetic lectures on social and 
scientific subjects, to an imaginary audience, alternately in 
Spanish and in English. But I found that this mental exercise 
excited me too much, so much so that even when the much- 
hoped-for third night had come I was unable to sleep, and lay 
wearily tossing from side to side, and listening every quarter 
during those long hours for the dreaded " Sentinela alerta " of 
the sentries, not half so wakeful as I. So I gave up my ghostly 
professorship, finding that the best plan to obtain sleep was to 
walk slowly, and let my thoughts ramble as they would. But 
when the low fever I was suffering from (when I had been a 
prisoner six months) had greatly weakened me, even with this 
precaution I could get no rest, and used to pace the whole night 
away, weary and worn out, but unable to remain still a moment. 

Sometimes, when I saw the pale moonlight shining on the 

guayan steamer, I found but one basin and two towels for all the thirty pas- 
sengers — and even those I had to myself. The others looked on, first speculat- 
ing if I were suffering from some malady necessitating frequent ablutions, but 
at length coming to the conclusion that I must be a very dirty animal, since I 
needed so much washing. It is said that Lopez, wishing the first passenger 
steamer to be fitted up in the English fashion, ordered a comb and a tooth- 
brush to be placed in every berth. 



156 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAKAGUAY. 



wall of the passage, and silvering one side of the wide quad- 
rangle — I could catch a glimpse of it through the chink in the 
window- shutter — and the old cloisters beyond, half veiled in 
the black shadow, I felt as if I must go mad ; the contrast was 
so painful between the calm beauty of the scene without and 
the sordid wretchedness within. 

In the inner courtyard were several political prisoners, all 
men well known to me. One, an Argentine, named Capdevila, 
I saw pass my door several times ; he had been a merchant of 
some wealth in Asuncion, and when war was declared against 
the Confederation he remained, hoping, as a quiet and inoffen- 
sive man, to escape persecution ; but he was soon sent down 
to Humaita as a prisoner, simply from his nationality. . His 
wife, however, bribed Madame Lynch to intercede for him, and 
he, with one or two others, was set at liberty ; and pitying his 
countrymen who were still in captivity, he sent them food and 
clothes several times ; but this act of charity was construed 
into an offence against the Government, and he was sent to the 
Colegio, and pub in irons. About a month after his arrest I 
saw the poor old man marched off (to the Policia, I suppose), 
and return with two pairs of grillos on his legs ; they took away 
also the hide he had been allowed for sleeping on, and left him 
to lie on the bare ground. Three weeks afterwards he again 
passed more slowly and feebly, and returned some hours later 
with three bars. He caught sight of me as he went by, and, 
in raising his hat, stumbled and fell, and only with great diffi- 
culty scrambled up again. His cup of misery was not yet full : 
after a shorter interval he was once more marched out, and, as 
several hours passed away, I made sure that he had been set at 
liberty, but to my grief and horror he returned late at night in 
a far worse plight than before. He still wore three bars, but 
so thick and long that he staggered under their weight, and 
was more than half an hour crossing the court inch by inch, 
and at length he crawled by my door on his hands and knees. 
Yet he did not die, but several months afterwards was shot at 
San Fernando. 



PRISON LIFE. 



157 



This was not the worst. I often saw respectably dressed 
men taken into that dreaded courtyard, followed by a group of 
ruffianly policemen ; and, knowing what was coming, I closed 
my ears with my fingers, or buried my head beneath the bed- 
clothes to exclude the agonizing shrieks and groans which, after 
a shorter or longer time would tell of the hellish deeds of the 
executioners. Sometimes I heard blows, but frequently the 
cries of the victim alone told how they were torturing him. 
One afternoon a poor fellow was estacado — horizontally crucified 
just beneath my window. Never shall I forget what I endured 
that day in listening to his moans and occasional frantic yells 
and prayers for mercy, and in picturing to myself what he 
was suffering. After hours of such torments I would see them 
sometimes led, sometimes carried back again, pale and bleeding, 
a piteous spectacle. 

Several times, also, prisoners were brought there to undergo 
the punishment of running the gauntlet ; a double line of 
soldiers was formed, — one day I counted four hundred of them 
as they marched by the door of my cell — and each was armed 
with a stick ; the offender was stripped naked and had to run a 
certain number of times between their ranks, receiving a blow 
from each as he passed. The drums were kept rolling to drown 
his cries, but I could often hear a piercing shriek in spite of 
them. 

It may be asked, did I never form any plans of escape ? 
Often enough, but I knew it was hopeless to try them ; and as 
I had, as is usual there, not been told my sentence, I thought 
that every day would be, perhaps, my last, and that on the 
morrow I should be free. At first sight, escape seemed easy 
enough : the door of my dungeon was wide open, and the sen- 
try was often a mere child who could hardly shoulder his mus- 
ket, and many times was soundly sleeping across the threshold ; 
but the walls of the courtyard were high, there was another 
sentry at the end of the passage, and the only means of egress 
was through the guard-room, always full of men. But even had 
these difficulties been evaded, one had but passed from a small 



158 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



prison into a larger one — the whole country was one huge cage. 
The Allies were two hundred miles off, the river was guarded at 
short intervals by small bodies of men perched on platforms 
elevated about thirty feet above the banks, and to travel by land 
was impossible. My dress, my skin, my language, or my 
silence, would have betrayed me in a moment, and there was 
not a native who would not have denounced me, had I met him ; 
for his own safety would imperatively demand it. To get food, 
to cross the dreary swamps, swarming with rattlesnakes and 
jaguars, on foot, to pass over the open pampas and the grassy 
hills without detection, would have been all but impracticable. 
And the most conclusive answer to this very natural question is, 
that not a single prisoner did escape, nor, as far as I could learn, 
with the exception of a few Guicuru Indians, even make any 
attempt to escape, of the hundreds who were captive there. I 
doubt if Baron Trenck himself could have succeeded. 

The sentries envied me sometimes, I think, for the vaulted 
passage in which they stood was a terribly cold and draughty 
place. At night they often crept furtively into the dungeon 
itself, and lay there, shivering in their thin and scanty ponchos, 
in many cases their only covering, save poor cotton drawers. 
Lying awake at night, I have heard the younger ones, perhaps 
ten or twelve years of age, crying bitterly, from terror at being 
left alone in the dark, gloomy vault, or from the cold, perhaps, 
hunger. Once I saw a chubby, flaxen-haired boy, who held 
his musket like a pole before him, the tears running down his 
cheeks, trying to weep silently, but a sob shook him at inter- 
vals. I asked him in awhisper what was the matter. " I want 
to go home to my mother," he whimpered most unheroically, 
" and I am afraid of the dark." Poor little fellow, I thought, 
you are even more miserable than I. 

During the day many people were constantly passing, and I 
occasionally saw some of my old patients, stumping along, per- 
haps, with a wooden leg, to the workshops within. One of 
them always nodded to me if he could do so unobserved, or ex- 
pressed pantomimically his pity, and he showed his esteem for 



THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 



159 



me in such a singular way that I must tell his story. He came 
up from Paso Pucu, shortly after I had been appointed assistant- 
surgeon, severely wounded, and so reduced by starvation that I 
had little hope of saving him ; he was, also, and had been for 
some years, insane. I fed him well, and then amputated one of 
his legs below the knee, extracted a ball from the opposite hip, 
and patched up divers sword cuts about the trunk. To my sur- 
prise, he recovered very quickly, and became so sleek and fat 
that I could never look at him without laughing ; for, perched 
on his single leg, he looked like a huge top : and whenever I 
passed his bed he used to cry, " Che-nesi-ete, tctita" (Quite well, 
father !) and pop his head beneath his poncho to escape examin- 
ation. Shortly after my arrest he was sent to the Colegio to 
work as a shoemaker. One night I heard some one murmuring 
in a low voice at the door of my cell, but the light from the 
lantern was so feeble that I could not make out who it w r as ; a 
few nights afterwards the same occurred again ; I sat up in bed, 
and saw that it was my mad patient. The sentry was fast 
asleep, and he had crept to the threshold, and knelt there, with 
upraised hands, praying for me — " for his dear father, the good 
doctor," as he called me, and beseeching the Holy Virgin to 
protect and deliver me. I was greatly touched by this expres- 
sion of the poor fellow's gratitude and commiseration. 

My health at length gave way, low fever prostrated me com- 
pletely, so much so that my jailors became alarmed lest they 
should kill me without orders ; and Ortellado, the native doctor 
of the San Francisco hospital, was sent to see me. I told him 
what I wanted — stimulants and tonics ; he had never heard of 
such remedies for fever, he answered, and could only prescribe 
purgatives and various decoctions of herbs, which I declined, 
preferring to die naturally ; and Lopez spread a report at the 
time that I had asked for poison to kill myself ! Fortunately I 
received three or four bottles of brandy, when I most needed 
it, from my good friend M. Narcisse Lasserre, a French distiller 
in Asuncion, and that, I believe, under God, saved my life. 
For my throat was so swollen and relaxed from the dampness 



160 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



of the place that I durst not lie down for fear of suffocation ; 
and had it not been for the opportune arrival of the brandy, I 
have little doubt I should have sunk and died ; because, although 
I knew I needed it, I had become so listless and " sick from 
hope deferred" that I allowed day after day to pass without 
telling Tomas to bring it. 

My colleagues were imprisoned for nearly three months, and 
then, early one morning, set at liberty. Both had suffered 
greatly. The health of Mr. Fox was most seriously injured. 
Dr. Rhind's disease had made great progress, and he never 
recovered from the shock his arrest occasioned him ; he lived, 
however, more than twelve months afterwards, and died peace- 
ably in his own house. To say that he lived universally 
esteemed, and died deeply regretted, would seem but the repe- 
tition of a hackneyed phrase ; in his case, it expresses but 
a simple truth : he was a man who won friends without an 
effort, and never lost one he had gained. My servant came 
with a radiant face to tell me the news, hoping that my own 
release would follow, little thinking that I had eight months 
more to suffer. 

It is useless to prolong this tale. I remained there, in that 
horrible place, in a dim twilight or total darkness, a fetid atmo- 
sphere, surrounded by prisoners dying from Asiatic cholera, and 
without once leaving it or seeing sunlight, for eleven months. 
I left it sick, weak, and half blind, and so changed in appear- 
ance that my most intimate friends scarcely knew me. On the 
evening of the 22nd of September, 1867, a sergeant told me to 
get ready, for I was to see the Mayor-de-Plaza ; and about half 
an hour afterwards I was taken across the gre&t patio, at almost 
the same hour at which I had entered it so long before. The 
sun had set, and candles were to be already seen in the officers' 
quarters ; but to me the light was brighter than my eyes, could 
bear, and in a dazed and half-dreamy state, doubting the reality 
of what I saw, I walked slowly through the guard-room. There 
all the officers had collected ; they expected, I suppose, to 
have had the gratification of seeing me pass them humbly and 



RELEASE. 



161 



bareheaded, as is the fashion there ; if so, they were disap- 
pointed. 

With the Mayor- de-Plaza I found Seflor Ortellado, who read 
to me the order of release, with a proviso, however, that I 
should not pass beyond the city ; so I was still but a prisoner 
at large. I signed it, and then Gomez paused, evidently for the 
customary thanks and expressions of gratitude to the President. 
But I disdained to express a thankfulness I could not feel, and 
astonished him by saying that he had treated me with injustice 
and cruelty ; and then, bowing coldly to both, I left the room. 

They allowed me to have four soldiers to carry my bed, etc. ; 
and, as my servant had not arrived, and I did not know where 
Dr. Rhind was living, I went to the house of the nearest English- 
man, Mr. Taylor, the master builder. 

I found him and his family at supper, sitting with the door 
open. I knocked and walked in. They started from the table 
in affright when they caught sight of me (I did the same when, 
shortly afterwards, I saw myself in a looking-glass). A more 
spectral figure is scarcely imaginable : my face was almost 
fleshless, and as colourless as that of a corpse ; indeed, I re- 
sembled one more than a living man. My hair, uncut for 
thirteen months, hung over my shoulders and mingled with my 
beard, both quite grey ; whilst my eyes, with the pupils widely 
dilated by the darkness, seemed to have concentrated within 
themselves the life which had deserted the rest of my body. 
No wonder I startled them, and that the children were petrified 
with terror. 

At first I was unable to speak, from agitation and the fatigue 
of walking. Mr. Taylor, however, came forward and said, 
hastily, " Que quiere usted, senor ? " (What do you want, sir ?) 
" Why, Taylor," I replied, " don't you know me?" " Good 
God ! " cried he, trembling ; " it is Mr. Masterman." The 
tears stood in his eyes as he shook hands with me. They were 
all greatly affected, and the pity they felt for me seemed for a 
time to make congratulations out of place. 

The news of my release spread rapidly over the town. Dr. 

11 



162 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



Rhind, who had no words to express his gladness, carried me 
off to his home ; and the American minister, the French consul, 
and a large number of my friends, native and foreign, called to 
tell me how happy they were to have me once more amongst 
them. 

I found that Dr. Ehind and Mr. Fox were still in the service 
of Lopez, not being able to help themselves, and that the latter 
had been sent to Humaita. I was undecided what to do : I 
was most anxious to aid the poor fellows in the hospital, but, 
at the same time, felt the greatest aversion to serve a man who 
had treated me so infamously, and who had stated, moreover, 
that the reason why I was imprisoned so long was, that I had 
refused to cure the sick and wounded. I thought I might get 
over the difficulty by applying for permission to commence 
private practice, but my application was refused ; and, of 
course, to re-enter the service of the republic was then out of 
the question. 



CHAPTER XY. 



CHOLERA MR. WASHBURN'S LETTER MISSTON OF MR. GOULD 

EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE. 

I found that I was principally indebted for my liberation to 
tbe good offices of the Hon. Chas. A. Washburn, United States 
Minister. He wished me to attend Mrs. Washburn in her 
approaching accouchement, and had applied persistently for my 
" pardon " until he obtained it, and he now offered me the post 
of private surgeon, to be exchanged for Surgeon to the Legation 
if the Paraguayan Government should show any intention of 
molesting me. I accepted this offer with pleasure ; for, although 
but an honorary one, I hoped that I should have been safe from 
any further persecution, and that an opportunity would soon 
present itself for leaving the country, even if the war should 
not be speedily terminated, as we expected. 

I found him located in a large house in the Plaza Vieja (Old 
Square) of Asuncion, a place big enough for a barrack ; in fact, 
at one time fifty people were living comfortably in it, and the 
rooms of his secretary and myself would have accommodated as 
many more in an emergency. It occupied almost all one side 
of the square, had a large garden in the centre, with a huge 
algibe, or tank, and warehouses of immense capacity. It had 
been offered to him rent free by Don Luis Jara, to whom it 
belonged (that is to say, the latter had been ordered by Lopez 
to vacate it for Mr. Washburn's accommodation) ; and he con- 
tinued to occupy it — on the same easy terms — as long as he 
remained in the country. 



164 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



I used to ride about a good deal within the town, but con- 
stantly followed and watched by the police ; and I finished 
several paintings I had commenced long before. Time passed 
thus very pleasantly, and still more so when Mrs. Washburn 
and her infant, needing change of air, removed for three months 
to the quinta (country villa) of Senor Bedoya at La Trinidad, 
about two leagues out of town. It was a handsome house, 
built and furnished by the late President for his own use ; at 
his death it became the property of Dona Eafaela, his youngest 
daughter, who afterwards married Don Saturnino Bedoya, Pay- 
master-General. 

With some difficulty permission was obtained for me to visit 
my patients there twice a week, but Mr. Washburn stated that 
he should decline the invitation to occupy the quinta unless it 
were given. The Lady President was most anxious that he 
should go there, for an advance on the part of the Allies was 
daily expected, and she knew that his presence would protect 
her and her personal property. So the poor old Vice-President 
Sanchez gave orders to the pickets to let me pass, on his own 
responsibility. He was anxious to serve the Senora Presidenta, 
the mother of the Marshal, but at the same time desperately 
afraid of offending Lopez himself ; and my indisposition to re- 
enter the Government service had so enraged the latter, that 
Senor Sanchez, a mere cipher, durst not mention even my 
name to him. I record this otherwise trifling circumstance 
because of the use which was made of it afterwards. 

I had applied, in proper form, for permission to practice 
medicine as a private surgeon, and Dr. Rhind strongly sup- 
ported my application. It was refused, however, as was also 
a petition subsequently presented by the English mechanics, 
praying that I might be allowed to attend them at their own 
expense. I should remark that this petition was written with- 
out my knowledge, and I only heard of it on the morning of its 
presentation. The Vice-President said that he vetoed it because 
I had refused to serve the Republic, and that I had not attended 
Mrs. Washburn, although I had been liberated for that purpose. 



CHOLERA. 



165 



On hearing this, I asked Mr. Washburn to write me a letter, 
testifying that I had done so, which he did.' 1 ' 

Asiatic cholera had appeared in Paraguay, in April, 1867, but 
it was principally felt by the army; wherein the deaths from this 
cause alone were from forty to sixty a day. Lopez, ever watch- 
ful for an opportunity to calumniate his enemies, stated that 
men had been sent over in women's clothing to convey the 
infection; and, afterwards, that the springs had been poisoned 
by emissaries of the Brazilians, and that what the doctors called 
cholera was really caused by drinking the water from them. 
And one day a small balloon, which had been sent up to try the 
direction of the wind, came over from the allied camp ; it was 
picked up by two soldiers, and shown by them to several 
officers. They were all arrested, and sent to a wretched hut 
without a roof, on the outside of the lines, where no one was 
allowed to go near them but a boy who carried a little beef 
and water twice a day. Lopez said that the balloon contained 
the poison, and that he feared these men would extend the 
effects of it ; but his fear really was that it carried papers of 
a revolutionary character — the " poison " he most dreaded. 

At the beginning of the year, the hot season in South 
America, it broke out in the capital, and committed terrible 
ravages. At first very few cases recovered ; they were taken 
up to the hospital but to die ; fully one-fourth of the people in 
Asuncion, then principally women and children, perished. We 
soon had it in the Legation ; Basilio, a native servant of Mr. 

* Mr. G. F. Masterman. 
Dear Sir, — In reply to your request that I should give you a certificate in 
regard to your attendance on Mrs. Washburn, I will state that you were her 
sole medical attendant during her illness ; I say not only this, but that you gave 
entire satisfaction, and that the Vice-President, in stating anything to the con- 
trary, must have been misinformed. 

Very respectf ully, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) Chas. A. Washburn. 

United States Legation, 

Asuncion, May 10th, 1868. 



166 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 

Washburn's was first attacked, and I had an opportunity of 
treating a case of the disease of the worst Asiatic type, and the 
great satisfaction of saving him. 

I had no little difficulty in carrying out the necessary treat- 
ment , for his mother, an old Payagua, did all she could to 
thwart my efforts. In Paraguay they have but one name for 
sickness — fever ; and but one way of treating it, dieta, starva- 
tion, emetics, and purgatives. I well remember the astonish- 
ment of the native wife of poor Michkoffsky, when I gave her 
child, who was sinking from typhus fever, a glass of wine, and 
told her to give him as much of that, and beef tea, as he could 
swallow, " But, senor, he has fever," said she, with startled 
eyes, and hastily arresting my hand. And only because the 
Italian curandero, who had been starving the poor child for a week, 
said he must die, would she try a treatment which seemed so ex- 
traordinary to her. If an intelligent woman of the better clas 
thought thus, it may be imagined what trouble I had with a~ 
obstinate Indiana. A dreadful old woman too, scarcely more 
than four feet in height, a dark-brown shrivelled creature, with 
a most witch-like face. She would mount on a chair by Basilio's 
bedside, gaze eagerly in his face, and a ghastly object he was, 
by the way, and then utter the most fearful howls imaginable. 
She loved him passionately, poor creature, with the fierce, 
jealous love which Indian women have for their young children, 
and "he was her only son, and she was a widow." She had, 
I think, some vague idea that I was experimenting upon him, 
and that my remedies were unholy and poisonous, and hence 
her distrust of me. 

During Basilio's convalescence, my friend Mons. Lasserre 
was attacked with the same terrible disease. I was anxious to 
attend him, but it was running a great risk, for the police had 
received orders to watch me so closely, to prevent me practising 
medicine, since I would not re-enter the service, that I scarcely 
dared to leave the Legation ; however, I owed so much to him 
and his kind-hearted family, for their attention to me when I 
was a prisoner, that it was clearly my duty to help him now, 



A SCENE. 



167 



and I did so. It was another bad case, and I could not leave 
him for many hours. 

On the evening of the second day, when I was completely 
exhausted with want of rest and anxiety, for two other members 
of the family were attacked, Major Manlove came over to tell 
me, through some misconception, that the police were waiting 
outside to arrest me, and that I must not leave the house till 
Mr. Washburn, who was then absent, could convoy me over. 
Madame Lasserre, imperfectly understanding what was said, 
thought from my concerned expression of face that her hus- 
band's case was hopeless, became almost frantic in spite of all 
I could say to reassure her, and at length fainted. 

I was returning to the bedside of my patient, when a Scotch 
servant of Mr. Washburn's ran in, crying out that Basilio was 
dead, that everybody else was mad, he thought, and that I must 
go over to the Legation directly. I went : it was a false alarm 
about the police ; but I certainly agreed in the servant's opinion 
when I entered the courtyard, for the confusion there was 
almost indescribable. A crowd of native women were clustered 
about Basilio's room, howling for the dead, the yells of his 
mother heard above them all. Mrs. Washburn was standing, 
frightened and crying, under the piazza, vainly asking what was 
the matter. Her maid was in hysterics on the floor in one 
room, and a young native lady, who was on a visit there, had 
swooned in another ! I sent Mrs. Washburn back to her bed ; 
and, when I had stopped the noise opposite, found, as I ex- 
pected, that Basilio. was not dead, nor likely to die. He had 
got out of bed, against positive orders, fallen from weakness, 
and his head striking a chair he lay stunned and insensible. 
His mother, who was a spy of the police, had just returned from 
a visit to the Policia, and found him lying as I have described. 
She came at once to the conclusion that he was dead, hastily 
collected all the women she could find to howl over his remains, 
and hence the tumult. 

I had an opportunity of punishing her a little while after- 
wards. I collected a quantity of paper collars, and one day, 



168 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



when she had been begging me to let her show how grateful she 
was for the recovery of Basilio, I gave them to her with express 
directions to wash them very carefully ; and sat at the door of 
my room to see the result. She brought a large pan of water, 
and seating herself on the grass in the courtyard, began to wash 
them vigorously. I shall never forget the expression of her 
face as she gazed in fear and astonishment at the tattered mass 
of rags in her hands ! She got up slowly, with her mouth and 
eyes wide open, and brought the fragments to me, actually 
trembling with fear. I tried in vain to look serious, and at last 
burst into uncontrollable laughter ; she gave one glance at me, 
and then went off in a furious rage, kicked over her pan of 
water, and to my great satisfaction did not speak to me for a 
month afterwards. 

Mons. Lasserre recovered, as did his brother and a servant 
who had a slight attack ; but I could wish they had all died, 
for a few months afterwards they were arrested, sent to San 
Fernando, on that utterly unfounded charge of conspiracy, that 
miserable fabrication, which caused the death of so many inno- 
cent people ; and poor Madame Lasserre, a young, pretty, and 
remarkably clever and engaging woman, was left an orphan and 
a widow : her father, husband, and brother were shot. 

There was one little incident connected with this case which 
showed how futile was any attempt at concealment. Mons. 
Lasserre suffered greatly from cramps during the attack, and a 
number of his countrymen came in to rub the knotted muscles. 
One of them, a carpenter, rubbed with such. zeal that he nearly 
stripped the skin off. A few days afterwards the Lady Presi- 
clenta came to visit the Minister, and I was presented to her. 
Y/e had a long talk together, and presently she said, " senor 
doctor, tell me, is it true that the big carpenter rubbed all the 
skin off Don Narciso ?" I was startled, bat replied cautiously, 
" It may be so, senora; but Dr. Khind attended him." "Which, 
fortunately for me, was the case ; for he, although then too ill 
himself for work, stayed some hours in the house with him, and 
greatly aided me with his advice. 



RETURN OF MR. WASHBURN. 



169 



When I was released from the Colegio, I was most anxious 
to know what had been done in my absence. Many of my 
friends were dead, I found ; but, with the exception of the re- 
turn of Mr. Washburn, there was little change in the state of 
affairs. The Allies had really done nothing but batter Humaita 
from a safe distance, and the end of the war seemed as far off 
as ever. The Minister had had great difficulty in returning to 
Paraguay, the Brazilians at first refused to let the U. S. gun- 
boat appointed to take him and family up the river pass the 
blockading squadron, and he was detained in Corrientes more 
than six months. Whilst there he visited the camp of the 
Allies, and was received in a very flattering manner by Presi- 
dent Mitre ; and the Marquis de Caxias sent an officer to him 
to say that as he was detained by the imperial fleet it was but 
just that Brazil should bear his expenses. This was but an 
oblique way of offering a bribe. 

Mr. Washburn tried in vain by remonstrance to induce the 
Brazilians to let him pass, and at length in a despatch directed 
to Admiral Ignacio, he stated that it was his intention to force 
the blockade. A few days afterwards the gunboat steamed 
through the fleet, which, as might have' been expected, did not 
oppose her passage, the admiral saying, courteously, that they 
could not afford to quarrel with their good friends of the north. 

Mr. Washburn presented his credentials to Lopez as Minister 
Kesident (he had before held the position of Commissioner of 
the United States in Paraguay), and at once tendered his good 
offices as mediator. 

Lopez adhered with wonderful tenacity to his old conditions, 
but he was willing to make a visit of one or two years' duration 
to Europe, as a compromise, which the Allies would not listen 
to. Mr. Washburn then, I think most unwarrantably, consti- 
tuted himself his advocate, knowing perfectly well the character 
of the man, and the frightful atrocities he had committed, and 
w T rote a despatch to the Brazilian minister, which was published 
in the " Semanario," in which he asks him what the Brazilians 
would think if Marshal Lopez, as a preliminary to a truce, 



170 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY . 



should demand the abdication of the Emperor ? This was, of 
course, mere special pleading. He knew why the war was 
commenced, how it had been carried on, and the hopelessness 
of the struggle on the part of Paraguay. He also knew that 
the resignation of Lopez would at once put an end to it ; and if 
his professions were to be believed, that he fought only for the 
honour and glory of his people, it is evident that he ought to 
gladly sacrifice his power and position to their good. He knew 
that Lopez would have been perfectly content if the whole of 
his people were destroyed (with the exception of a sufficient 
number to labour and tend, making the country one huge estate 
of his), could he but retain his hold of it. Long before the 
war the title-deeds of all the larger estates were ordered to be 
deposited in his hands, and the property of all political prisoners, 
all deserters, real or surmised, and, in many cases, of their re- 
latives, was forfeited to the State — that is, to himself. All title- 
deeds which were not en regie were destroyed, and the property 
reverted to the " State." * 

* The way in which they were tested may be judged of from the following 
anecdote, which I can vouch to be authentic. Don Carlos Lopez wished to buy 
some property belonging to a wealthy native, named Recalde, living in the Calle 
Comercio, but which the owner declined to sell, so he was ordered to bring the 
title-deeds of the house he occupied for verification. 'lhey were handed to 
a Juez de Paz, a civil judge, who reported that they were perfectly correct. 
The President told the judge sternly to begone; and sending for another, said 
to him, " J gave these papers for examination to Jeuz Fulano, and the fool re- 
ports that they are ' conforme' ; examine them minutely, and tell me if they 
are so." It is needless to add that the owner, whom I knew well, remained but 
a short time in possession of his house, and that the coveted property was 
quietly given up. And I could cite numerous other instances of people who 
were compelled to sell their properly to the President, or members of his family, 
for a tithe of its value, and did not always get that : one may suffice. An old 
man named Pereira, who lived in the Calle del Sol, near the Aduana, wished, as 
he was pressed for money, to sell his house, and offered it to Madame Lynch 
for a very low sum. She bought it, but did not, as is the custom there, pay the 
purchase money before receiving the title-deeds, and the seller was afraid to ask 
her for it. She told him, however, to ask Caminos, the President's secretary, 
for it, who replied that he knew nothing about the transaction; and poor Pereira 
actually lost both his house and his money, and died in Paso Pucd from 
starvation. 



mr. gould's despatches. 



171 



This despatch of Mr. Washburn's did, moreover, a great deal 
of harm. People in Europe, who could gain but little informa- 
tion about the real state of affairs in the Plate, and naturally 
felt great sympathy for a little republic bullied, in appearance, 
by two larger ones, and Brazil to boot, thought that a man 
who was thus openly supported by the American minister must 
be in the right, and the shocking stories of his cruelty, which 
occasionally reached them, must be fabricated or greatly exag- 
gerated. However, it led to no practical result, and the " dis- 
tinguido amigo del Paraguay y la Libertad " was soon forgotten 
by the " Semanario." 

In the month of August, 1867, Mr. Gould, Her Majesty's ' 
Charge d' Affaires, visited Paraguay for the purpose of obtaining 
the liberation of the many British subjects then virtually 
prisoners of Lopez. He did not succeed, except in the case of 
three widows and their five children, who were given up ; but I 
am glad to say that he was not cajoled either by the flattery ori 
the falsehoods of Lopez ; and when his letters to Mr. Buckley 
Mathew, our Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Re- 
public, were published by command, the first clear and reliable ' 
account of the state of affairs there was given to the world. ! 
These letters are so graphic, and confirm so exactly my owij' 
statement, that I give the following extracts from them : — * 

" Paraguayan Head-quarters. Paso Pucu, August 22, 1867. 

" The very evening of my arrival " (the ISth instant) " I was 
informed by the President's secretary that his Excellency 
would receive me privately, and I had therefore the honour of 

* How the Foreign Office could have remained indifferent to the fate of 
British subjects in Paraguay, after the publication of these despatches, it is 
difficult to understand ; and these letters were kept back lest public opinion 
should compel some measures to be undertaken for our rescue. The inertness 
of our Government was freely discussed in Paraguay, and I have often heard 
the natives express the greatest contempt for it. A friendly sergeant said to me 
one day when I was a prisoner, " Our President and we don't care a real for 
you of England ; but the North Americans ! Caramba ! that is another matter ! 
What gun: and what men they have got !" 



172 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



spending a couple of hours with the President, who assumed 
towards me an extremely frank and cordial manner. 

' ' After reminding me that this was not an official interview, 
and inquiring the object of my visit to his camp, his Excellency 
said that he deeply regretted that I should have been charged 
with such a mission, as he could not, under the circumstances, 
possibly dispense with the services of the British subjects in 
Paraguay, who were all in his employment, and bound by 
contracts, His Excellency moreover added that he could not 
allow any foreigners, at the present crisis, to quit the country, 
or even return from the camp to the capital. Should per- 
mission to leave be granted to one, his Excellency observed, 
the rest would, in all probability, wish to follow. He had, 
therefore, been obliged to refuse a private and most pressing 
appeal, which Mr. Washburn, the United States minister at 
Asuncion, had addressed to him on behalf of an American 
citizen." This citizen was Major Manlove. 

"Mr. Berges, his minister for foreign affairs, had in conse- 
quence only recently notified publicly that no foreigner would, 
in the actual critical state of affairs, be permitted to withdraw 
from the republic." So recently, that this notice only appeared 
when Berges had received the notice of Mr. Buckley Mathew, 
stating that the object of Mr. Gould's visit was "to facilitate 
the departure of such British subjects as were desirous to leave 
Paraguay." 

"His Excellency dwelt at considerable length on the par- 
tiality which he had at all times shown for Englishmen, whom 
he had exclusively employed ; on the great benefits he had 
conferred on some of them." This was very far from being 
true. Our pay seemed handsome on paper, but as half was 
paid in billets at par, when they were at from 20 to 80 per 
cent, discount, and the gold at a premium of 20 per cent., it 
really amounted to but a moderate sum. And the value of the 
cattle taken by Lopez, without a farthing of compensation, or 
even a pretence of paying for it, from Dr. Stewart's estates, 
would itself have paid the salaries of one half of us. We were 



ME. GOULD S DESPATCHES. 



173 



certainly allowed much more liberty than the natives were, 
and as we received part of our pay whilst they got none at all, 
we were more liberally treated ; but it is idle to say that any 
benefits had been conferred upon us. 

" His Excellency further assured me that none of them had 
the slightest cause of complaint ; on the contrary, they were 
one and all perfectly happy and contented. None of them, to 
his knowledge, desired to leave the country, and all had en- 
gagements, which they were gladly fulfilling to his entire satis- 
faction. I should have every opportunity of conversing with 
the few British subjects in his camp, who would fully corrobo- 
rate all he had stated."* 

Now, what are the facts ? With two or three exceptions, the 
contracts of all of us had long since expired, and we were most 
anxious to leave the country, but dared not even say so. Mr. 
Gould was kept under most careful surveillance,-)- and " the 
few British subjects in the camp " were afraid to be seen speak- 
ing with him ; and on the morning after this interview Lopez 
sent for Dr. Stewart, as the Englishman holding the highest 
rank in his service, and said to him, " Cuidado ! Si go sepa que 
algun Ingles diga que quiere salir del pais." [Take care ! If I 
should (only) know that any Englishman says that he wishes 
to leave the country] . Those only who know Lopez can under- 
stand the full force of this sentence. 

" His Excellency proceeded to complain of the want of sym- 
pathy evinced by Her Majesty's Government towards Paraguay; 
of his desire to cultivate more friendly and intimate relations 
with Great Britain not having been reciprocated ; of the way in 
which his policy had been misconstrued in England ; and finally, 
of the breaches of neutrality committed by Her Majesty Govern- 
ment during the present war. He had, unfortunately, no one 
to advocate his cause, and he was shut out from the rest of the 

* Vide evidence of Mr. Eden and Mr. Newton in the Appendix. 

t Colonel Thompson states that " he was placed in the centre of the room in 
a long hat; the partitions "were only of reeds, and anyone in the others could 
see and hear all that was going on." 



174 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAKAGUAY. 



world. He considered it very unfair on the part of Her Majesty's 
Government to call upon him to give up the small number of 
British subjects, who had freely entered his service " (but not 
to fight, however) ; " while no notice seemed to be taken of the 
loans, ships, and arms obtained by his adversaries in Great 
Britain, and of the hundreds of Englishmen fighting against 
him in their ranks. 

" With regard to the despatch addressed by you (Mr. Buckley 
Mathew) to his minister for foreign affairs, his Excellency 
stated that lie could not be expected to take any official notice of 
it, as you have not yet presented your letters of credence, which 
can only be done personally " (The italics are mine.) " He 
therefore considered he would have been fully justified in re- 
fusing to listen to any request I might be instructed to make on 
behalf of the British subjects in Paraguay, as I ic as unprovided 
with any direct communication from Her Majesty s Government to 
that of the republic Mr. Gould had neither an armed force to 
support his demand, nor even a right to make it. " Neverthe- 
less, to prove his anxious desire to meet the views of Her 
Majesty's Government, he would overlook these diplomatic in- 
formalities, and endeavour to make some exceptional concession 
in its favour without prejudicing his position, which had become 
exceedingly delicate, in regard to other neutral powers, since 
the publication of the notification he had previously alluded to. 

" His Excellency concluded by making some highly flattering 
remarks about me, and saying that such was the sympathy he 
felt for me, that out of personal regard he would wish to see 
my mission brought to a successful termination." 

It is impossible not to admire the skill Lopez displayed in 
this interview; the wily savage was fully a match for his 
antagonist, fettered as the latter was by the fear of injuring the 
men he had been sent to save, through any remark which might 
show that he was acquainted with the facts of the case ; and 
the ingenuity with which he makes it appear that giving up 
three widows and their children was proof of his friendly feeling 
towards England, and a compliment to Mr. Gould, who con- 



mr. gould's despatches. 175 

tinues : "I began by endeavouring to convince the President 
that the object of my mission was not to complain of the treat- 
ment of British subjects in the republic, but simply to request 
his Excellency to allow those amongst them who might desire 
to leave Paraguay to avail themselves of the facilities for doing 
so placed at their disposal by Her Majesty's Government. I 
added that this friendly request was based on a positive inter- 
national right, and that a refusal on his part to comply with it 
would be not only highly impolitic, but inhuman. If these 
British subjects were all, as he asserted, happy and contented, 
the number of those wishing to leave would be so insignificant 
as to cause his Government no embarrassment, while he would 
thus, by a very small sacrifice, gain over to his side, not only 
Her Majesty's Government, but public opinion in the United 
Kingdom, which had become interested in their fate. The 
arrival of Her Majesty's gunboat in the Paraguayan waters had 
placed my countrymen in an exceptional position, and rendered 
the notification he had referred to inapplicable to them. I would 
not take upon myself to call in question his Excellency's asser- 
tions, but I had good reason to believe that the contracts of most 
of the Englishmen in his service had long since expired, and that 
some, at least, of them were anxious to return to their homes. I 
would not, however, attempt to ascertain their real feelings on 
the subject until his Excellency had consented to their depar- 
ture. I should, by doing so, merely place them in a false and 
painful position. 

" I concluded by assuring his Excellency that I would, 
through you, call the attention of Her Majesty's Government 
to the various causes of complaint he had considered himself 
justified in pointing out to me. I moreover undertook fully to 
inform you of the peculiar and critical position in which he now 
finds himself. 

" Paraguay has for many years past almost exclusively 
employed Englishmen. The medical service of its army is 
entrusted to four English surgeons and an English apothecary. 
The works in its arsenal are carried on by a small number of 



176 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



English draughtsmen and mechanics. English engineers have 
charge of its steamers. Its railway, many of the public build- 
ings, and the formidable system of defensive works which has 
so long set at defiance the allied armies, have been constructed 
under the supervision of three English civil engineers." This 
last statement is not quite correct : the river batteries at 
Humaita were built by Capt. Morice, R.N., who had left Para- 
guay before I reached it, and Col. Weisner, an Austrian. The 
new works were designed by the latter and by Mr. (now Lieut. - 
Col.) Thompson, who was a civil engineer, and the only 
Englishman who, at that date, had entered the military service 
of Lopez. " Finally, its mines are worked by an English 
mining engineer. It is mainly owing to the exertions of this 
handful of Englishmen that Paraguay, reduced to its own limited 
resources, has, under the direction of President Lopez, thus far 
been enabled to prolong the desperate struggle in which it has 
been engaged for upwards of two years. Hence the natural 
reluctance of his Excellency to part with men whose services 
are invaluable to him, and whom he cannot possibly hope to 
replace under present circumstances. 

" At a subsequent interview President Lopez said he would, 
in the absence of his minister for foreign affairs at Asuncion, 
and on account of the difficulties of communicating with that 
capital, prefer that I should remain at his head-quarters ; and 
he would therefore name his secretary to treat me officially. 
Should I persist in carrying out my instructions literally, he 
would be under the painful necessity of bringing the negotiations 
to an abrupt and disagreeable termination. However, if I 
would agree to be satisfied with the women and children, whom 
he was willing to give up on grounds of humanity, and represent 
to Her Majesty's Government that this was the only concession 
he was in a position to make at the present moment, he would 
most gladly consent to their departure, provided measures were 
taken to prevent their communicating to his adversaries any 
information which would be injurious to his cause. 

"I partially agreed to his terms, observing, however, that I 



MR. GOULD S DESPATCHES. 



177 



could not take upon myself to guarantee that Her Majesty's 
Government would be satisfied with such a partial measure ; 
but that of course it would materially lessen the unfavourable 
impression which an unconditional refusal would be certain to 
produce. 

" I have made up my mind to proceed with the greatest 1 
caution and moderation ; and if I find it eventually impossible 
to obtain the release of those I have been commissioned to bring 
away, I will accept the compromise his Excellency has prepared, 
leaving it entirely open to Her Majesty's Government to take 
whatever further steps may be deemed most advisable to effect 
the deliverance of the British subjects who may still remain at 
Paraguay. With this object I will not .hurry on the negotia- 
tions, as, although I shall thereby expose myself to some 
danger and great personal discomfort, I feel convinced my 
countrymen will be in comparative safety so long as I remain 
amongst them." 

Mr. Gould then received a note from Gen. Barrios, minister 
of war and marine, stating that Major Caminos had been 
appointed officially to treat with him, and that the negotiations 
were to be carried on in writing. He wrote in French, knowing 
that the secretary was but a cipher, and that he was really, 
treating with Lopez, who speaks that language well. But he 
goes on to say, " Before replying to my note the President 
expressed a desire to see me." Mr. Gould was, however, 
unwell, and several days passed before he could visit him ; then, 
" in the presence of Senor Caminos, he read over the note, and 
kindly pointed out what he considered a grammatical error, 
which I at once gladly corrected. He then proceeded to make 
another more important alteration, which I did not feel myself 
at liberty to consent to ; but I finally agreed to take back the 
note for reconsideration, in order to avoid what I feared might 
end in an unpleasant discussion, which I had every reason to be 
anxious to avoid. 

" His Excellency actually proposed to me so to alter the 
wording of the note as to make it appear that the only object of 

12 



178 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



Her Majesty's Government in sending the 'Doterel' to Paraguay 
was to facilitate the departure of the few English women whom 
his Excellency felt disposed to give up. 

" I explained that although these women had undoubtedly a 
prior claim, and Her Majesty's Government would be grateful 
for the exception made in their favour, still it did not in any 
way invalidate the claim of the other British subjects in his 
dominions to the consideration of their Government. I would, 
however, take time to reflect on his proposal, but I feared I was 
so bound by your instructions as to preclude the possibility of 
my complying with it. 

" The next morning I handed back to Seiior Caminos the note 
in question, after having substituted the words ' et surtout ' for 
' en outre ' at the beginning of the sentence which refers 
specially to the English women in Paraguay."* 

Several notes followed this, but led to nothing, as might have 
been expected. Mr. Gould says, " The only remarks I will 
venture to make with regard to Seiior Caminos' note of the 23rd 
of August are, that he avoids the main question; first, by 
speciously endeavouring to make it appear as if there were no 
British subjects in Paraguay desirous of leaving it ; secondly, 
he does not see fit to give them an opportunity to express their 
wishes on the subject ; thirdly, I regret to say he was perfectly 
aware at the time that several of them made no secret of their 
wish to quit Paraguay, though he was to a certain extent justified 
in asserting that none of them had officially applied for permis- 
sion to leave ; finally, he admits that they would not in any case 
be permitted to take their departure. 

" I may as well, before proceeding any farther, point out to 
you the peculiar position occupied by British subjects in this 
remote republic. They are all, with one single exception, I 
believe, in the Government service." With the exception of 
three it should have been. * ' Their conti^acts were made in 

* " En outre (et surtout) il y a des femmes et des veuves d'anglais, ckargees 
d'enfants, qui ne doivent continuer k rester sans but exposees aux perils de la 
guerre." 



mr. gould's despatches. 



179 



England, and afterwards renewed in this country ; but most of 
these contracts have expired since the beginning of the war. 
Thus many, who might now desire to return home, were not at 
liberty to do so when the Doterel last visited Asuncion. Her 
stay was but short, and the object of her presence not generally 
known. These British subjects have in general been very well 
treated by the President, and their salaries are regularly paid 
even now. However, on the one hand, owing to the depre- 
ciation of the paper currency, in which they receive one half of 
their wages, they have to submit to a loss of nearly forty per 
cent. ; while, on the other, they have to pay exorbitant prices 
for whatever they require, in consequence of the rigorous block- 
ade which has excluded Paraguay from the rest of the world for 
upwards of two years. President Lopez treats them very much 
as if they were a more valuable class of his own subjects ; never 
consults their wishes, and employs them in any way that suits 
his purpose, without their daring to offer the slightest objection. 
In this way he may safely say that he has never used compul- 
sion towards them, as his wishes are no sooner conveyed to them 
than they are, in appearance at least, willingly complied with. 
On their side, the dread of incurring his displeasure is so great 
that they would hardly be likely to make any imprudent request, 
which would in all probability not be granted, and might entail 
upon them the most serious consequences. 

" The case of Mr. Henry Yalpy is the most unjustifiable of 
any. This gentleman is a civil engineer, who came out specially 
from England with Mr. Burrell to make a railway. Mr. Valpy's 
contract, though once renewed, has long since expired, and the 
railway works are suspended in consequence of the war. This 
gentleman was indirectly asked to accept military service, but 
he had the strength of mind to refuse, and offered to give up 
his salary, as his services were no longer available. He was, 
however, induced by the President to continue drawing one half of 
his pay, and since then he has made himself as useful as he could 
in the capital. Ten or eleven months ago he was called to the 
Government-house, and told to prepare to proceed to this camp. 



180 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



He objected, but was informed that it was the President's order, 
and consequently he would have to go. On his arrival in camp 
his Excellency presented him with a sword, and requested him 
to get a military uniform, although he gave his Excellency to 
understand he had conscientious scruples, which prevented him 
from accepting military service. He has hitherto resisted put- 
ting on military uniform, and has only been employed in making 
surveys at a distance from the enemy's positions ; but, even so, 
shells have exploded in his immediate neighbourhood. He is 
treated very much as a prisoner at large, and the President is 
so incensed at his passive resistance, and at his having, through 
me, privately expressed a wish to leave, that I have, with reason, 
the greatest fears for his personal safety. The very fact of his 
often having been seen with me will, I apprehend, tell against him. 

" Mr. Fox is also most anxious to leave. He is not bound 
by any contract, or even verbal engagement, and moreover he 
is in rather delicate health. I incidentally mentioned his name, 
without, however, compromising him. 

" Others would, I know, gladly do the same, but, fearing the 
consequences, wisely refrained from expressing to me their ar- 
dent wishes on the subject. President Lopez, in an unguarded 
moment, acknowledged to me that he considered he had a 
perfect right to treat Englishmen in his service (and he does 
not give them the option of retiring from it) just in the same 
way as he would his own subjects. The men in the arsenal, 
for the most trivial offences, are at once locked up, or put on 
board the steamers, where they have very hard work, and are 
continually exposed to the fire of the Brazilian iron-clad squad- 
ron below Hamaita. 

" Such is the terror inspired by President Lop>ez that, fearing 
the information I had might be attributed to the unfortunate 
British subjects in the camp, I avoided, for their sokes, taking 
any notice of the case of a young English apothecary, who, for a 
slight breach of discipline, has been under arrest in the capital for 
the last nine or ten months. The position of British subjects in 
Paraguay was, up to the commencement of the present war, a 



me. gould's despatches. 



181 



very good one ; but since then it has materially changed, as I 
believe I have succeeded in proving, and may yet, I fear, be- 
come still more precarious." Mr. Gould concludes : " During 
my prolonged stay in this camp my unfortunate countrymen 
have happily been in comparative safety, although my position 
was both irksome in the extreme, and not altogether unattended 
with danger from various quarters. The whole camp is now 
more or less within range of the enemy's guns, and President 
Lopez's violence is such that I was repeatedly warned to be 
most guarded in my intercourse with him." 

Mr. Gould left, taking the women and children in question 
with him ; but, notwithstanding his representations of Lopez's 
lawlessness, and the dangerous position in which our countrymen 
remained, little or nothing was done for their relief. It is true 
that a gunboat has been twice sent up the river to repeat the 
farce of asking for the release of British subjects. The answer 
returned to the first application was that none wished to leave, 
and a foreman in the arsenal went on board and stated that such 
was the case ; but Mr. Nesbit, the man in question, was accom- 
panied by Levalle, a Paraguayan, who speaks English very well, 
and if he had stated the truth he would have imperilled the 
safety of his wife and children, who were then on board. It 
was on this occasion that Mr. Fox, through an order given by 
Lopez when he was so intoxicated that he did not know what 
he was doing, was lucky enough to make his escape. And I be- 
lieve a third has been sent, since Lopez retreated to the Cordil- 
lera, with a despatch from the admiral, to which, we are informed 
by General McMahon, Lopez declined to reply. 

Another letter of Mr. Gould's, dated September 16, 1867, 
should be noticed as exemplifying the cunning of Lopez. He 
states that, finding that any further negotiations were useless 
he determined to leave, and goes on : " The state of my health 
was also such as to necessitate an immediate change of air, and 
to cause serious alarm to the English medical men in the camp, 
from whom, at considerable risk to themselves, I experienced 
the greatest kindness. 



182 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



J "To my surprise, late in the afternoon, Lieutenant- Com- 
/mander Michell suddenly appeared, accompanied by three of 
the President's aides-de-camp. He informed me he had been 
spending an hour alone with his Excellency, who had treated 
him with the most marked kindness and condescension, and 
made many inquiries about what was passing outside his camp. 
This was the first notice I had received of the arrival of the 
gunboat, although Curupaity is in telegraphic communication 
with Paso Pucu. When Commander Michell had left me to 
return to head-quarters, a horse was brought up by a soldier ; 
but I refused to leave until the President should have signified, 
in a becoming manner, that I was at liberty to re-embark. 
Shortly afterwards two of his officers were sent to accompany 
! me, and ^I then proceeded to Curupaity, where I was detained 
fully an hour, waiting for Commander Michell and his party. 

" While there, one or two shells were fired in that direction 
by the Brazilian iron-clads below Humaita ; Commander Michell 
was, I believe, covered with sand by the explosion of one of 
them. This mistake, unintentional on the part of the Brazilians, 
can only be attributed to the British ensign having, for some 
reason or the other, been lowered by the Paraguayans from the 
flag-staff at Curupaity long before Commander Michell and I re- 
embarked. Owing to these delays night had closed in before 
Her Majesty's gunboat was able to return to her former position 
in the rear of the Brazilian squadron off Curuzu." 

I should have greatly enjoyed the chance of hearing the kind 
and condescending conversation Lopez held with the gallant 
and gratified officer. It provided Madame Lynch with excellent 
after-dinner jokes for some time afterwards. 

There can be no doubt that the British ensign was lowered 
by command of Lopez. Mr. Gould had shown a most unwel- 
come pertinacity in trying to carry out his instructions, and had 
gleaned a few facts which it was most inconvenient to let the 
outside world know anything of; therefore it was hoped that a 
Brazilian shell would have silenced him for ever, and we see 
how nearly this ingenious scheme succeeded. 



MR. GOULD S DESPATCHES. 



183 



In the letter of the 10th there was enclosed the following 
excellent resume of the information Mr. Gould had been able to 
collect : — " Since the commencement of this protracted war, 
but little, if any, reliable information has been received as to 
the actual position of this country. The Allies themselves, 
strange to say, seem to be as much in the dark as the rest of 
the world. Though the opportunities of ascertaining the true 
state of affairs have been extremely limited since my arrival here, 
still I have succeeded in collecting information of some interest. 

" The whole country is ruined, and all but depopulated. 
Everything is seized for the use of the Government. The 
cattle on most of the estates have entirely disappeared. All 
the horses, and even the mares, have been taken away. The 
slaves, of whom there were 40,000 or 50,000, have been eman- 
cipated ; the males sent to the army, and the females, with other 
women, forced to work in gangs for the Government. Many 
estates have been altogether abandoned. The scanty crops 
raised by the women are monopolized for the supply of the 
troops. The women have been obliged to part with all their 
jewels and gold ornaments, though this extreme measure has 
been called a patriotic offering on their part. 

" Three epidemics, measles, small-pox, and cholera, besides 
privations of all sorts, have reduced the population of this un- 
fortunate country by more than a third. It is variously esti- 
mated to have never exceeded 700,000 or 800,000 ; but on this 
point I have not been able to obtain any reliable data. The 
mortality among children has been dreadful, and both scurvy 
and itch are very .prevalent. The trade with Bolivia is insigni- 
ficant, owing to the almost insuperable difficulties of communi- 
cation. 

" When the war first commenced President Lopez was at the 
head of a fine army of nearly 100,000 men, and he had immense 
supplies of arms and ammunition, which his father and he had 
been carefully accumulating for years previously. His fleet con- 
sisted, however, of only twelve or fifteen river steamers of light 
construction. 



184 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



" Since then he must have lost, in one way or other, upwards 
of 100,000 men, for 80,000 have died from disease alone. 
Many of his steamers have been captured or destroyed, and he 
may yet have eight or nine, only two of which are, however, in 
a good serviceable state. 

'f it is only owing to the dilatory manner of proceeding of 
the Allies, and their want of energy, that he is still able to pro- 
long his resistance. Had their fleet taken up in time a position 
between Paso la Patria and Itapiru, after the surrender of a 
part of his troops at Uruguayana, none of the 25,000 men with 
whom he invaded the Argentine province of Corrientes would 
have been able to recross the Parana into Paraguay. On the 
24th of May, 1866, he was repulsed with such fearful loss that 
the Allies might have entered his entrenched camp the next day 
with the greatest ease. It took him three days to reorganize 
any considerable force, as he himself acknowledges. His losses 
on that occasion amounted to between 12,000 and 15,000 men. 
On the 2nd of September, 1866, when the Allies took Curuzu, 
had they marched at once on Curupaity they would easily have 
advanced with but comparatively slight resistance. They lost a 
fortnight, during which he strongly entrenched himself, and 
were eventually repulsed with immense slaughter. Again, when 
they advanced lately to Tuyucue, he was not prepared to resist 
a determined attack. He has, however, since strengthened his 
works on that side. There they have remained stationary for 
more than six weeks, while by pushing forward a few thousand 
men on their extreme right they would entirely cut off his com- 
munications with the interior, and very soon compel him to 
surrender at discretion ; for he has no longer a sufficient force 
to venture upon a serious attack. 

" The allied forces now amount to 48,000 men in the field, 
and from 5,000 to 6,000 in hospital. Of these, 45,000 are 
Brazilians, 7,000 or 8,000 Argentines, and 1,000 Orientales. 
Since my last visit, in April, the Brazilian army has been 
rejoined by the 2nd corps, which held Curuzu, and the 3rd 
under General Osario, which was at that time somewhere in 



mr. gould's despatches. 



185 



the Misiones. Moreover, large reinforcements have arrived 
direct from Brazil, and the Imperial Government has engaged 
to send out 2,000 men per month to keep up the army to its 
present strength. President Mitre has also returned with a 
part of the forces lately employed in quelling the insurrection 
in the Argentine Provinces. They are fully supplied with every 
requisite for a campaign. Of the above amount, fully 8,000 
are cavalry, and well mounted ; besides, fresh horses are daily 
arriving in large numbers. The army is likewise provided with 
a great many field-pieces. 

"The Brazilian iron-clad squadron consists 'of ten vessels, 
which easily forced their way past the batteries at Curupaity. 
There are, it seems, two deep-water channels in front of these 
formidable works. The farthest from them is defended by three 
lines of stockades, to which torpedoes are attached. Admiral 
Ignacio, however, took the fleet up the nearest channel, and by 
shutting his ports, and keeping close under the cliffs on which 
the guns are mounted, avoided in great measure their fire, as 
they could not be sufficiently depressed, and he thus lost but a 
few men. Only one of th^ iron-clads was disabled, by a shot 
striking the condenser, and was exposed to a very heavy fire 
until another vessel came to its assistance, and, lashed to its 
side, towed it up past the batteries. The squadron is at present 
stationed a little more than a mile below Humaita, into which 
its shells fall, as well as into the rear of Curupaity. The com- 
munication with the squadron of wooden vessels, seven in num- 
ber, stationed opposite Curuzu and below Curupaity, is easily 
maintained by means of a road four miles long, through the 
Chaco, defended by three redoubts and 1,400 men. 

"Thus the whole of the river front, or right of the Para- 
guayan camp, is exposed to the fire of the fleet. 

■* * * * * 

" The Paraguayan forces amount altogether to about 20,000 
men, of these 10,000 or 12,000 at most are good troops, the 
rest mere boys from twelve to fourteen years of age, old men 



186 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



and cripples, besides from 2,000 to 3,000 sick and wounded. 
The men are worn out with exposure, fatigue, and privations. 
They are actually dropping down from inanition. They have 
been reduced for the last six months to meat alone, and that of 
a very inferior quality. They may once in a way get a little 
Indian corn ; but that, mandioc, and especially salt, are so very 
scarce, they are, I fully believe, only served out to the sick. In 
the whole camp there is absolutely nothing for sale. There 
must be, from what I saw, a great scarcity of drugs and medi- 
cines, if not a total want of them, for the sick, whose number is 
rapidly increasing. Few recover, as may be naturally expected, 
under such circumstances. Cholera and small-pox, which exist 
to a certain extent in the allied camp, are spreading very much 
among the Paraguayans. The horses have nearly all died off, 
and the few hundreds which yet remain are so weak and 
emaciated they can scarcely carry their riders. The last 800 or 
900 mares in the whole country have, however, just been 
brought in. The draught oxen are in a dreadful state, and 
cannot last much longer. The cattle in the camp, some 15,000 
or 20,000 head, are dying very fast for want of pasture. Fresh 
cattle are occasionally brought in at night ; but they are also 
generally in poor condition. Large herds are said to be kept 
near Humaita, in some marshy place near the river, which is 
very difficult of access to the Allies. The few steamers still 
plying between the capital and the camp can only land their 
cargoes at night, as they have to come within the range of the 
Brazilian iron-clads below Humaita. Many of the soldiers are 
in a state bordering on nudity, having only a piece of tanned 
leather round their loins, a ragged shirt, and a poncho made of 
vegetable fibre. They all wear clumsy-looking leather caps. 
A great part of them are still armed with flint guns, though in 
the course of the war many Minie rifles have been captured 
from the Allies. 

"The Paraguayans are a fine, brave, hardy, patient, and 
obedient race of men ; but they are beginning to be dispirited, 
judging from what I have seen on the one side, and the accounts 



mr. gould's despatches. 



187 



I have heard on the other. They neither give nor accept quar- 
ter, even when wounded. Paraguayan wounded have been seen, 
when lying on the field almost in the agonies of death, to stab 
any wounded enemy within reach." 

I may add that the little boys who were made into soldiers 
were ordered to cut the throats of any wounded they saw on 
the ground ; and a sergeant, one of my patients, told me, with 
some pride, that he had " degollado " several of his own 
wounded men, to prevent their falling into the hands of the 
enemy. " Others, again, especially of late, throw themselves 
on the ground at the approach of the foe, without offering the 
slightest resistance, but refuse pertinaciously to surrender, and 
have to be run through as they lie." 

I expect the truth is, that the poor fellows, not understanding 
a word of any other language than Guarani, threw themselves 
on the ground to show that they did surrender ; they were, 
however, systematically taught that the Brazilians always 
slaughtered their prisoners ; and after the rout of Lopez at 
Lomas Yalentinos, a friend of mine actually saw them bayonet- 
ing the wounded as they lay in long lines under the trees. We 
know that a cowardly enemy is always the most merciless. 

" The garrison of Humaita consists of five battalions, of 
which three are composed of old soldiers, one of boys and con- 
valescents, and one of wounded men returned to duty ; in all 
about 3,000 men. 6,000 are stationed along the left from 
Humaita to the Angulo, and 5,000 from thence to Curupaity. 
The reserves, consisting of three battalions of infantry, and four 
or five weak dismounted cavalry regiments, numbering alto- 
gether from 2,000 to 2,500 men, are stationed at Paso Pucu, 
the most central position in the camp, and the head-quarters of 
President Lopez. Among all these troops there are probably 
not 10,000 able-bodied men." 

Yet, in spite of this weakness, starvation, and misery, the 
Paraguayans held their position for nearly eighteen months 
longer, and were then conquered, not by the Allies, but by 
mightier foes — hunger and disease. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 



BOLIVIANS REGIMENTS OF WOMEN BOMBARDMENT OF ASUNCION 

EVACUATION OF HUM AIT A, AND RETREAT TO SAN FERNANDO. 

Whilst the allied army was lying idle at Tujuti, skirmishes took 
place between the Paraguayan and Brazilian cavalry very fre- 
quently ; by Lopez they were magnified into great battles, and 
were invariably victories ; the loss on the part of the enemy 
was usually 5,000 men, whilst their own, the " Semanario " 
stated, was two or three killed and a few wounded ; neverthe- 
less, some scores of the latter always reached the hospitals a few 
days afterwards. 

In 1866 a road — a mere bridle-path — was made through the 
woods from the eastern side of Bolivia to the head waters of 
the Paraguay, and a few traders came down it, and realized 
enormous profits by the sale of the flimsiest of prints, with 
more dressing than cotton in them, at a dollar a yard ; chocolate 
at five shillings a pound, and salt at thirty-five pesos (about 
forty shillings) the arroba of twenty-five pounds. Some of 
them left with their money, but the rest were pounced upon 
by Lopez as " conspirators," and lost both their gains and 
their lives. 

Lopez took advantage of the arrival of these Bolivians to 
issue a pompous decree in the Government organ for the 
regulation of the trade between the two countries, for the pur- 
pose of making the Allies believe that an important commerce 
had been initiated between them. Copies of this decree and 



LAS AMAZONAS DE LA PARAGUAY. 



189 



similar documents used to be dropped by the Paraguayans be- 
tween the lines of the two armies. 

Speaking of salt reminds me of an amusing blunder I saw in 
an American illustrated paper, " Leslie's Weekly." The writer, 
Lieutenant Holmes, of the 4 ' Wasp," sent his journal and 
sketches to that paper, and they are editorially introduced as 
scenes " described with the simplicity and conscientiousness of 
an observant sailor." After giving his impressions of the river, 
and getting quite enthusiastic in his admiration of it, and the 
" beautiful parasites growing in the water," and wondering at 
the strange animals called " Kapurchas (carpinchas), and look- 
ing like tapirs " (!) he speaks of Mount Lambarai (Lambare) as 
" a mount of three hundred and fifty feet high, and is said to be 
composed entirely of rock salt ; therefore of great value to the 
country, where that condiment is so very scarce." It does not 
seem to have struck this observant sailor that salt, in a country 
where such a mass of it existed above ground, must have been 
about as " scarce " as it is in the ocean. Lambare is really of 
basaltic rock, and I suppose having heard that, he thought that 
the word was but another name for rock salt. His 'sketches are 
also as divertingly unlike the places they are supposed to repre- 
sent as can well be imagined. 

One of the Bolivians, Dr. Rocas, started a small weekly paper, 
called " La Centinela " ; and another, the " Cacique de Lam- 
bare," w T as printed by the G-overnment, in the Guarani. I give 
in the Appendix a specimen of this scurrilous print. 

In the beginning of this year (1868) several regiments of 
women were actually formed. They volunteered their services, 
of course, but the reader need not be reminded what the volun- 
tary offering of the Paraguayans meant ; and for some time it 
was expected that they would be sent to the front, but after they 
had been drilled for a few weeks the idea was abandoned. . This 
fact has been several times commented upon, and as often denied, 
but I can vouch for the truth of it. I have before me a printed 
list of names, sixty in number, commencing with that of Juana 
Tomasa Frutos, and ending with that of Brigida Chaves, and 



190 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



headed, " Lista nominal de las senoritas que se ofrecen para 
tomar las armas."* Dona Carolina Gill, an old friend of mine, 
was " capitana " of one company ; and I several times saw the 
girls going off to be drilled, their hair dressed with tricolonred 
ribbons. One day they were reviewed by the Lady President 
at La Trinidad. 

During the months of December and January the river had 
risen to an extraordinary height, and most of the dreaded tor- 
pedoes being twenty feet or more underwater, the Brazilian iron- 
clads ventured close to Humaita ; and on the morning of the 
19th of February it was seen that one of the lighters, which 
supported the chains, had capsized, and that these impediments, 
in consequence, had been got rid of. For the first time, per- 
haps, during the war the enemy showed some daring, and three 
monitors ran past the ribera batteries, and, without receiving 
any serious damage, anchored above the forts. On the 21st the 
news reached Asuncion, and it was ordered to be evacuated 
within twenty-four hours. I can scarcely say if the order were 
received with greater consternation or joy. With the exception 
of the police and the scanty garrison, none but women and 
children remained of the native population, with a few hundred 
foreigners ; the former were terrified at the idea of leaving 
their homes, but at the same time they hoped that at last the 
weary war was at an end. Don Jose Berges, the minister for 
foreign affairs, informed Mr. Washburn of the order, and that 
the capital would be temporarily removed to Luque, a village 
about twelve miles in the interior. The latter refused, however, 
to leave ; for he hoped that the Brazilians would occupy the 
capital at once, and that we should be rescued. But he had 
grievously mistaken. The same day, Doctor Don Antonio de 
las Carreras, ex-prime minister of Monte Video, and Serior 
Rodriguez, ex-secretary of the Legacion Oriental, asked per- 
mission to stay with him ; and when a number of the English 
mechanics, whose contracts had expired, begged for shelter 
there, he told them that if the vice-president would give them 
* List of the names of the young ladies who offer to take arms. 



BOMBARDMENT OF ASUNCION. 191 

permission to stay they might occupy some spare rooms in the 
building. They went down to the Government-house, and saw 
Col. Fernandez, the commandant, who said that if they did not 
go into the streets unnecessarily they might stop in the Lega- 
tion ; and accordingly six or eight, with their wives and children, 
twenty- two in all, took up their quarters with us. 

The next day the city was completely deserted ; and when 
two of the monitors made their appearance on the 24th, except 
for a stray dog, no signs of life were visible. Mr. Washburn, 
the French consul and I watched their approach from the roof 
of the consulate with great interest, expecting that they would 
take up a position in front of the city ; for the battery at Tac- 
umbu had only one heavy gun and a few field-pieces. But they 
stopped and engaged this work at almost the verge of their 
range. The shots flew far wide of their mark, the greater num- 
ber fell harmlessly into the river and a few into the city, the 
only damage being the destruction of a balcony of the President's 
palace, a slice off the front of a house, and the demolition of a 
couple of dogs in the market-place. 

I regret that I have not the official (Brazilian) account of this 
operation to quote from, for it gives one an excellent idea of 
the trustworthiness of the accounts transmitted by the Allies to 
Europe. * Any one reading it would imagine that a severe 
action had been fought; the vice-admiral talks of " having 
severely chastised the insolence of the Paraguayans in firing 
upon him," and the damage inflicted, when I can state positively 

* To those who, like myself, are fully acquainted with the state of affairs in 
the River Plate, the utter untrustworthiness of the accounts transmitted to, and 
published in, the English newspapers is astonishing. And, especially, the way 
in which mere hearsay statements are received and quoted even by men who 
could, without the slightest trouble, test the truth of the stories they repeat. 
In Commander Kennedy's recent account of his visit to Paraguay, for instance 
he states that President Lopez was educated in the Ecole Poly technique of Paris,' 
and also served in the British army in the Crimea. Now Lopez was in his 29th ? 
year when he visited Paris, and he went there as Minister Plenipotentiary to{ 
negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce between Paraguay and France and] 
England ; and he reached no nearer point to the Crimea than Marseilles, where 
he landed in 1854. 



192 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

tliat not a single shot struck them at all. After firing about 
four hours, the iron-clads returned down the river, and we heard 
no more of them. The people, however, suffered severely, 
though indirectly, from this futile attack. They were driven 
out into the small villages to the north-east of Asuncion, where 
there were not houses enough to shelter one-fourth of their 
number ; they encamped under the trees, or in the open air, 
during that month of heavy rains — seven or eight inches some- 
times falling in the day — and endured every form of misery ; 
food was excessively scarce and dear, all trades and occupations 
were at an end, they were dying by hundreds from disease and 
famine, and nearly all were attacked by intermittent fever. 

The appearance of the town during and after the evacuation 
was indescribably wretched ; long before daylight I was awak- 
ened by the creaking of the wheels of the heavy bullock-carts 
on their wooden axles, and I saw long lines of those primitive 
vehicles laden with household goods, followed by their owners 
on foot, and by the poorer people, both nearly all women, 
bending under the heavy burdens they carried on their shoulders. 
They all appeared frightened ; and, with the red eyes of those 
who have passed a sleepless night, looked sadly on the homes 
the greater number of them were never to see again. When 
the last stragglers had passed, the silent streets glowing in the 
hot sunlight seemed as if they had been untenanted for a 
century, save by the vultures which wheeled slowly in narrow- 
ing circles overhead. 

It would have been imagined that the Brazilians would have 
completely commanded the river now that they had passed the 
chain, for Lopez had only five or six small wooden steamers 
left, and they had fifty -four large steamers, several of them 
plated, eleven small, and forty- eight sailing vessels. Nothing of 
the kind ! They blockaded Humaita from above, after a fashion ; 
that is to say, supplies could not be thrown in by day, but at 
night the Paraguayans seemed to do as they pleased. And on 
the 21st of March Lopez actually crossed the river to the Gran 
Chaco side, and made his way unmolested to San Fernando, 



RETREAT TO SAN FERNANDO. 



193 



about fifteen leagues above his former position, and still on the 
left bank, with three-fourths of his army and many of his heavy 
guns. 

It was an extraordinary feat, and was most admirably planned 
and carried out ; although the loss in men and guns, from the 
badness of the road, was considerable. An English artisan was 
a prisoner at the time in Humaita, and he afterwards gave me 
some very painful details of his sufferings, and those of others 
on the road, a mere cart-track, through the swampy woods. 
The men were often up to their middles in mire and water, 
numbers of the sick, old, and weakly were drowned, and many 
of the guns, after almost superhuman efforts to drag them 
through, had to be abandoned. A clever ruse de guerre had en- 
abled the Paraguayans to mislead the enemy, and the lines of 
Curupaity were abandoned for more than a month before the 
Allies found out that the birds had flown. The guns were 
gradually removed from the embrasures, and " quakers " (logs of 
wood) put in their place ; the troops, meanwhile, were con- 
stantly massed in the front, leading the enemy to expect that an 
attack in force would be made upon them, and taking off their 
attention from Humaita itself, whence the artillery was being 
sent across the river in large flat-bottomed boats at night. 
When all was ready the men silently retreated from Curupaity 
to Humaita, leaving numbers of dummies, made of sacking and 
reeds, standing by the wooden guns, and a few soldiers to fire 
volleys occasionally, to keep up the deception. 

Before leaving Lopez committed an act of atrocious cruelty. 
He had many prisoners of war ; it would encumber him too 
much to take them on to San Fernando, and the scanty force 
left in Humaita could scarcely guard them, so he ordered the 
whole of them, except the officers, to be slaughtered in cold 
blood ; and on that summer's afternoon several hundred men 
were mercilessly butchered. The morning after this fearful 
scene he commenced his retreat, and in three days reached San 
Fernando, a place just above the embouchure of the river Tebi- 
quari, with about 8,000 men. The movement was so cleverly 

13 



194 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



managed that the Allies were completely thrown off the scent, 
and some weeks elapsed before they discovered where the Para- 
guayans had gone. 

A force of about 3,000 men was left to guard Humaita, and 
they held it until the 24th of July, in spite of ten iron-clads, 
and in the face of 30,000 of the enemy, provided with abun- 
dance of arms, ammunition, and food. 

A second ruse was tried successfully by the scanty garrison ; 
great activity was shown near the river, boats and canoes full 
of men were seen passing in the dusk and early morning ; the 
fire had slackened, at last ceased, and not a man or sign of life 
was to be seen within the works ; it was evident that the gar- 
rison had " stole away." So thought the Brazilians; but to 
make sure, the iron-clads were moved closer, and, aided by the 
land batteries, poured a tremendous fire into the devoted place, 
fro.m sunrise till night, on the 15th of July. Not a gun was 
heard in reply, and, expecting to march into deserted batteries 
as. they did at Curupaity, the next morning a general advance 
was ordered, and 6,000 men moved rapidly over the open 
ground towards the empty embrasures. About 200 yards in 
front they found a redoubt, from whence a few musket shots 
were fired by a small party of Paraguayans, who immediately 
retreated. The dense columns, in wonderfully good humour, 
and a little disordered, I expect, by this time, entered the bat- 
tery, which was empty, and then pressed on to the main 
works in front of them. Five minutes more, and the green and 
yellow ensign will wave over the last stronghold of the tyrant ! 
The foremost men were breaking into a run to be the first to 
enter, when— a yell of " Muerto a los cambas ! " rose high 
above the noise of the exulting throng, the loaded guns were run 
out, and a moment afterwards poured a storm of grape and shell 
into the disordered crowd ; there was a fearful carnage, an 
instant of terrified indecision, and then a disordered flight. 

A victory ! and the victors were but a throng of famine-and- 
f ever- stricken men. Lopez, once out of the way of danger, 
seems to have left them to their fate ; the few cattle thtW had 



RETREAT FROM HUMAITA. 



195 



when he left had by this time all but disappeared, great numbers 
were killed during the bombardment of the 15th, and no new 
supplies were sent to them, although the road through the Chaco 
was open. On the 19th Col. Alen sent to tell him that they 
were eating the last of their stores. His answer was, " Hold 
out for five days more, and then retreat." They obeyed, al- 
though they were starving even then, and trying to support life 
by cutting the hides of the slaughtered cattle into strips and 
boiling them for food ; and their commander was so maddened 
by the misery around him that he tried to commit suicide ; but 
the pistol ball, with which he would have taken his life, only 
destroyed one of his eyes. At length the appointed clay came 
round ; they crossed the river, but not without discovery, and 
many of the boats were sunk by the enemy's fire, and a serious 
disaster happened as they were preparing to embark. A large 
quantity of powder and shell had been brought down to the 
shore, and a crowd of women and children stood around, wait- 
ing to carry it to the boats under cover of the night, when 
a shell fell in their midst : there was a sudden flash, a heavy 
report, and the poor creatures were hurled in all directions, 
blackened corpses. 

So on the 24th of July, 1868, all who could had crossed the 
river, and Humaita was abandoned to the dying and the dead. 

But the fugitives found themselves, to their dismay, com- 
pletely cut off from the road they were to travel ; the river was 
unusually high, and had converted the low marshy ground they 
had reached into an island. Col. Alen and a few of the stronger 
men overcame this difficulty, and reached San Fernando, where 
he was, shortly afterwards, put in irons, tortured most barbar- 
ously, and, after months of unspeakable suffering, shot as a 
traitor. The weaker, the wounded, and the women and children 
remained with Col. Martinez, the second in command, in blank 
despair. They were soon discovered by the Brazilians, and 
summoned to surrender. Their commandant refused. The 
iron-clads came up, completely surrounded them, and they were 
again ordered to surrender. In their desperate misery the 



196 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



Paraguayans fired on the flag of truce ; and then day after day 
shot and shell was poured into the unresisting crowd, and still 
the same answer. Their aimless, useless obstinacy is terrible 
to think of, yet it was almost sublime in its silent heroism and 
self-abnegation. Too feeble to fight, too worn out to hope to 
escape, they refused all mercy, and died as they lay. At length, 
after six days' carnage, a priest induced Col. Martinez to yield, 
and the scanty remnant capitulated at his orders. Lopez 
treated this surrender as a dereliction of duty, and added one 
more to the terrible list of his crimes, by shooting the mother and 
wife of Col. Martinez for his so-called desertion! 

A great many of the officers, being better fed than the men, 
were able to escape with Col. Alen ; but they were all treated 
as criminals on their arrival at San Fernando. An article 
appeared in the " Semanario " a week or two afterwards, stating 
that the information that they were out of provisions was false, 
and that the garrison was amply provided with food when Alen 
and Martinez traitorously gave up the place to the Brazilians. 
Most of these unfortunate men were executed. The fact of the 
prolonged resistance made by the fugitives after leaving the 
fortress, and that the Allies found it absolutely bare of all stores, 
is a sufficient answer to the charge. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE PLOT ME. WASHBURN CHARGED AS A CONSPIRATOR HIS COR- 
RESPONDENCE 1 AM DENOUNCED AND AGAIN ARRESTED. 

Mr. Washburn and his family returned from La Trinidad in the 
beginning of February, 1868 ; in fact, the Lady President had 
received orders to request him to leave her house, for he had 
by this time fallen from grace. Lopez, disappointed that the 
proffered mediation, which promised so much, had come to naught, 
vented his wrath upon the man who had attempted it ; and the 
refusal of Mr. Washburn to leave the city on the approach of 
the Brazilians was an offence he only waited for an opportunity 
to punish. 

And he gave new offence to Lopez in April by an act of 
great imprudence. We had been ordered not to go into the 
streets ; but Major Manlove used to take his cows to water, and 
hitherto had not been interfered with. One day, however, he 
was returning, and galloped half across the square in front of 
the Legation. To do this was interdicted by a municipal ordi- 
nance ; he was unfortunately seen by the police, and was com- 
manded to present himself at the bureau, where he was detained 
for some hours. When Mr. Washburn heard of this he went 
down to the Policia, and seeing Manlove sitting on a bench 
outside, and guarded by two or three men, he lost his temper, 
and thrusting the policemen on one side, put him on his horse, 
and sent him back to the Legation. 

An angry note came from the foreign office the next day, 
complaining of the outrage, and when Mr. Washburn shortly 



198 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAEAGUAY. 



afterwards went down to San Fernando to see the President, it 
was evident that his devotion to his cause had been for- 
gotten, and that he had fallen into disgrace. Within a few 
weeks he quarrelled with Major Manlove, and, knowing that he 
would be immediately arrested, ordered him to leave the Lega- 
tion ; he did so, removing to the empty house of my old friend 
Mons. Lasserre, of which he had the keys and permission to 
make use. He was once more seized by the police, put in 
prison, sent to Villeta, and afterwards shot. 

Mr. Bliss, another American, came over from a cottage he 
occupied, and took possession of the empty room, for he was 
no longer considered safe where he was. This man's name has, 
I am sorry to say, appeared so frequently coupled with mine 
that I ought to say a few words about him. He is the son of 
a Baptist missionary labouring amongst the North American 
Indians, and as he had an extraordinary talent for acquiring 
languages he was recommended to the Argentine Government, 
then in search of some one to treat with the Indians occupying 
the vast plains between their territory and that of Bolivia, as a 
fit person for this post ; he went, and, I believe, carried out his 
mission successfully ; but on his return down the river Vermejo 
he fell into the hands of Lopez. He was then engaged by the 
latter to write a history of Paraguay from his point of view, and 
on the strength of his promise he had free quarters and rations 
from the Government. He wrote, also, articles for the " Seman- 
ario," patriotic speeches to be delivered by outraged women, 
and curses on deserters, real or supposed, at a very reasonable 
price indeed, considering the bitterness of them. 

He is a clever man, but a thorough Yankee ; in person and 
address exactly realizing Dickens' Uriah Heep, and I disliked 
him intensely from his vulgar and dirty habits, a la Americain. 
However, except at table, where I could not refuse to meet him, 
I saw very little of him. 

All went on as usual for some time. My valued friend, 
Mons. Cochelet, the French consul, and his family got safely 
out of the country, although Lopez, who detested him, tried 



LA VIKGIN DE MILAGROS. 



199 



the same scheme for destroying him as he had in the case of 
Mr. Gould ; and more pertinaciously, for he kept him, his wife, 
and four children more than a week in Humaita, in the line of 
fire ; and used to laugh heartily after dinner at the " gran susto " 
(the fright) they would get before they could leave. I am glad 
to say that, although several shells burst near them, none of the 
family received any hurt. 

His successor, who was a very different man, went in for 
popularity strongly, as that WGrd was understood by the putas 
de la capital. He soon became one of the most intimate friends 
of Madame Lynch, and distinguished himself by making patri- 
otic speeches on every possible occasion in favour of Lopez, 
in which he lavished the most extravagant praise upon him, 
speaking of him as the most famous of living generals, and one 
who was destined to occupy the brightest page in history as the 
saviour and idol of his country ; whilst to me he declared, with 
the most sibilant of expletives, that he was the meanest tyrant 
in the world. Shortly after his arrival he dedicated a silk flag to 
Santo Tomas, with the arms of France on one side and the 
name and titles of Lopez on the other, and placed it with much 
ceremony in that saint's grotto. I think he also " assisted," 
as he would say, at a visit to the Virgin de Milagros of Caacupe, 
made by Madame Lynch. This virgin deserves a passing 
notice. It is a wooden image, in the church of that village, 
which bows its head in a gracious and, of course, supernatural 
manner, if the petition, offered before the shrine containing it, 
is to be granted. But in order that the virgin — I know not if 
the celestial or the wooden one be meant — should not be troubled 
with improper prayers, the suppliant must previously submit 
the favour to be asked to the priest, and pay the sum of one 
dollar ; then, if he approve, they repair to the church together, 
and offer up their petition, in the temple of God, to the tinselled 
idol standing there, and its head bows, of course, at the right 
moment. 

On this occasion religion and business were combined, for 
Madame brought an order from Lopez directing the priest 



200 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



to deliver to her all the jewels and offerings of value in the 
chapel ; and she took them away with her. 

We soon found that we were prisoners in the Legation, and 
dared not even venture into the street ; only Mr. Washburn, his 
secretary, and a native servant being allowed to leave the house. 
The English mechanics, also, were in a very unhealthy state, 
from change of diet and want of exercise. They had made a 
most unfortunate mistake in entering the Legation, their 
money rapidly melted away, for the provisions Basilio was 
allowed to buy for them were very dear ; and they incurred 
the anger of Lopez by refusing to work in the Arsenal, 
where they were greatly needed ; and, therefore, Mr. Watts, 
the leader as he was believed to be of them, was afterwards 
shot at Villeta. 

On the same 16th of June, when the Allies suffered their 
severe repulse from Humaita, we were surprised by the sudden 
appearance of Senor and Senora Leite-Pereira in the Legation ; 
they came in hastily, and begged Mr. Washburn to protect them. 
It seems his exequatur as Portuguese consul had been that day 
withdrawn, and fearing that his arrest would follow, he sought 
shelter under the American flag. His offence was, that he had 
supplied such of his countrymen as were prisoners of war with 
food and money, which bare act of charity was construed by 
Lopez into sympathy with his enemies. 

The next day a letter came from the Foreign Office to Mr. 
Washburn, asking if the fugitives were in his house. He replied 
in the affirmative. On the 20th the Paraguayan Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs, Don Gumesindo Benitez, demanded to know 
why the consul was allowed to remain in the Legation. Mr. 
Washburn replied that he was not obliged to answer a demand 
of that kind, but that Senor Leite-Pereira was his guest. On 
the 23rd another despatch came of a very serious tenor. It 
demanded from Mr. Washburn a packet of papers left with him 
by Jose Berges, ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was then 
a prisoner at San Fernando on a charge of conspiracy and 
treason. Mr. Washburn replied energetically that he had never 



THE CONSPIRACY. 201 

received any but official papers from Berges, and that he had 
no private documents of his in his possession. In a few days 
the demand was repeated, and a letter from Don Jose himself, 
or rather signed by him in a trembling hand, was enclosed, in 
which he was made to say, that his treason being discovered 
concealment was now useless, and he begged Mr. Washburn to 
give up the two packets of letters and papers, one marked 
" Papeles de Berges," and the other with the name of his 
brother, which he had confided to him. In the same letter was 
a most minute account of their last interview, after which the 
papers were said to have been brought away by Mr. Washburn, 
the position of the furniture in the room, the desk from which 
they were taken, the conversation they had had, evidently 
veracious as far as the conversation was concerned, for it was 
exactly in the style in which the minister conversed ; and the 
description of the meeting between him and Berges, the room 
in which they met, the precautions they used in hiding the 
papers, and so on, — so circumstantial and minute that I had 
great difficulty in believing that they had never been placed in 
his hands. 

The despatch went on to say that Mr. Washburn had dis- 
mounted in the courtyard of his house — shut in by the front 
rooms from the street — carrying the papers in a small valise ; 
had taken that into the dining-room, then into his office, and 
had placed the packets in an iron safe there. It was evident 
that we had a spy in the house ; I had long suspected something 
of the kind; for I had frequently seen Basilio's old mother 
peering at dusk about the door of the sola, especially if any 
visitors were there, and then leaving the house, often, for hours 
at a time. But we used to laugh at her, for there was no 
treason to spy out. On the day mentioned in the letter, some 
weeks before, Mr. Washburn really had gone to visit Senor 
Berges, then seriously ill, carrying the valise they described so 
minutely, and afterwards visited the Lady President, or as she 
was now called, Dona Juana Carillo, her maiden name, for she 
was, also, in disgrace — as they truthfully recorded ; and after- 



202 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



wards Seiior Leite-Pereira. From him Mr. Washburn carried 
the packets in question, not of letters, but " billetes," paper 
money. On the 10th of July another long despatch came, 
demanding that not only Seiior Leite-Pereira, but Dr„ Carreras 
and Seiior Eodriguez, should be expelled from the Legation, to 
be tried for conspiring against the government of Paraguay. 

This was the first official notice we had received of the dis- 
covery of a conspiracy against the President, although we had 
heard rumours that such was the case, and that great numbers 
of both natives and foreigners had been arrested for complicity 
in it. 

I never believed the story of the plot for a moment, for the 
Paraguayans have so little trust in each other that a conspiracy 
amongst them was impossible, indeed this had been the strongest 
safeguard of Lopez ; and as for the foreigners, they were only 
too fearful of the police to attempt anything of the kind. 

The request had been previously made, but without mention- 
ing any specific charge against them. Mr. Washburn refused 
to entertain it for a moment, and told the Paraguayans that so 
long as these gentlemen pleased to remain they should have all 
the protection his house afforded. That, however, amounted to 
very little ; it was only the respect which Lopez would feel for 
his ministerial privileges, and the fear that any outrage might 
lead to hostilities, which could make them secure there. It was 
also evident that any futile resistance on the part of the accused 
would but increase their punishment ; and, as Mr. Washburn 
declined to promise that he would stay till the end of the war, 
they, confiding in their perfect innocence, resolved to give them- 
selves up and meet the charges made against them. I felt the 
utmost sympathy for them, although I was only intimate with 
Seiior Eodriguez ; for a fear, I could never trace to its source, 
of some trouble with the government had prevented me even 
talking with the others, except when they required medical 
advice. 

Dr. Carreras was a short, slender man, of about fifty years of 
age, with a good head and delicate features, and an extremely 



ARREST OF CARRERAS AND RODRIGUEZ. 



208 



nervous manner, owing probably to years of ill-health, and a 
very rapid speaker. Rodriguez was a young and handsome 
fellow, of remarkably pleasing manners and polished address ; 
he had read much, spoke French well, and was learning English. 
Leite-Pereira was a Portuguese, of good figure, but with the 
characteristic ugliness of his race — the worst in that, and other 
respects, in Europe. His senora, a Paraguayan, a tall, hand- 
some, and very pleasing woman, had crossed the Atlantic, and 
lived some years in Lisbon before her marriage. She was an 
excellent example of what the natives might be made by edu- 
cation. 

At noon, on the 12th of July, we exchanged our sad and last 
aclios. As soon as they left the porte-cochere they were seized 
by the police, who had been watching the house for more than 
a month, night and day, and at once marched down to the Policia. 
There they were put in irons, and sent down in a boat to San 
Fernando. The same day all the English, except myself, left 
also. Col. Fernandez promised Mr. Washburn that they should 
not be molested ; but they were kept as prisoners in the railway 
station for some time, and then sent into the country. Five 
were arrested, and one, Mr. Watts, was shot, leaving a wife and 
several children. 

Whilst they were in the station a train came in one night, 
laden with prisoners. They could not see the poor fellows, for 
no lights were allowed, but they heard their groans and sighs, 
and the clanking of their irons. They comprised nearly all the 
male population of Luqne. In fact, only three officials were 
left, Sanabria, the chief of police, Col. Fernandez, and Gume- 
sindo Benitez. About eighty Italians were taken, twenty 
Frenchmen, all the Bolivians, and several others of different 
nationalities. 

On the 13th of the same month another demand came. Mr. 
Bliss and myself were to be expelled ; and, on the Minister 
stating that we were members of his suite and, therefore, entitled 
to equal immunities with himself, three days afterwards Bliss 
was charged with the same crimes as Dr. Carreras had been, and 



204 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



I with "having committed others of equal gravity." Scarcely 
had Mr. Washburn replied to this demand, when another de- 
spatch arrived, filling some thirty pages of foolscap, and being 
the "confessions" of Carreras, Berges, and Capt. Fidanza, the 
latter an Italian, an intimate friend of Mr. Washburn's. They 
charged him with being the chief of a secret revolutionary com- 
mittee, of which they were members, their object being the de- 
struction of Lopez and the rendition of the country to the Allies. 
He was said to have received a large sum of money from Don 
Benigno Lopez (the President's brother) for distribution amongst 
them and the rest of the conspirators, and that he had, stored in 
an iron safe in his office, the minutes of their meetings, and 
various letters, sent by Caxias, arranging a plan of co-operation 
and mutual assistance. 

Mr. Washburn, I say it with all deference, made the great 
mistake of replying seriatim to these charges, argued the points 
with the Paraguayan minister, and in most undiplomatic lan- 
guage ; and assumed that Carreras and Rodriguez really had 
made these charges against him. 

I watched with great pain the course he was adopting, and 
ventured to suggest a more dignified mode of proceeding, and a 
less colloquial style of writing. My suggestions, however, were 
received so ungraciously that it was impossible for me to offer 
my aid a second time ; and letters were sent which only 
furnished grounds for fresh accusations, and by their want of 
dignity degraded him in the eyes of Lopez. 

Every ten or twelve days a voluminous despatch in reply was 
received from Serlor Benitez ; most politely worded, ever pro- 
fessing the utmost respect for Mr. Washburn, often admirably 
arranged, and always well written ; yet full of the most serious 
charges against him, and so well argued, so clearly supported, 
and with such a mass of evidence to back them, that I could 
hardly hold unshaken my certain conviction that they were false, 
base fabrications from beginning to end. 

Not content with writing, late one night Senor Benitez came 
in person, to urge Mr. Washburn to give up the papers of 



AEKEST OF BENITEZ. 



205 



Berges, and supply the conclusive evidence against the conspir- 
ators, which was still wanting. Unfortunately, his Excellency 
has a very imperfect knowledge of the Spanish language ; and, 
as they were alone, the full force of what the secretary said will 
never be known ; and I could gather from Mr. Washburn little 
more than a summary of the matters discussed. However, 
Benitez said to him, "All is discovered — you must confess ; " 
which, as I shall tell presently, led to his own arrest and execu- 
tion. About a week afterwards Madame Lynch came on the 
same errand. She told him, also, that he must confess ; that 
Berges had stated positively that the papers had been deposited 
with Mr. Washburn ; and that he ought to give them up, and 
" trust to the mercy and generosity of the Marshal, who took 
pleasure in pardoning penitent offenders." 

On her return to San Fernando she publicly repeated at the 
table of Lopez all she had said to him ; and added, that Mrs. 
Washburn had called her aside and, with tears, implored her to 
intercede on her husband's behalf. " That," said she, " is a 
convincing proof of his guilt ;" and she urged Lopez, and was 
supported in her advice by the bishop, to have Mr. Washburn 
brought down a prisoner to San Fernando. 

In the next letter the Minister repeated the phrase that Benitez 
had used, and also that he had spoken in a former despatch ot 
the conspiracy breaking out on the President's birthday. In 
the succeeding one Benitez denied that he had used those 
words ; and went on, "It was not I, Senor Ministro, who spoke 
of the revolution breaking out on the day you have mentioned, 
but I thank your Excellency for the information." Mr. Wash- 
burn was furious, and for days after was continually repeating, 
"No fui yo, Senor Ministro, que hable," etc. He might have 
borne the insult with patience ; for it was the last letter the 
secretary wrote : a few days after he was in irons, was put to 
the torture, and his evidence added to the mass he had been 
quoting from. I came in for my share of abuse : I was described 
as a needy mendicant, who had come to Paraguay begging mjf 
bread. My contract I signed in London! I had also "been 



208 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YE All S IN PARAGUAY. 



plotting treason for months before I entered the Legation." It 
must have been when I was in solitary confinement then. And 
I had been " expelled from the army in disgrace ; " when my 
impression is, that I had never been in it, and that I had refused 
to re-enter the service of Lopez. However, I bore it all very 
coolly, and set to work studying French and Spanish novels with 
great industry. By the way, in the latter, the polite villain or 
the brutal ruffian, as the case may be, is always an Englishman ! 
And I read, to my great amusement, in one of them that a 
member of Parliament, who had brought in a bill for the destruc- 
tion of Roman Catholics, had a number of statues of different 
sizes (varios estatuas de diferentes tamanas) erected in his honour 
by his admiring colleagues ! 

To anyone from without it would have seemed that the people 
within the Legation must be some of the most formidable ruffians 
in existence ; for, under the pretext that we intended to escape, 
and that we still — in some very mysterious way — carried on 
communications with the enemy 250 miles distant, a strong 
body of troops surrounded us day and night ; pickets of a dozen 
men were placed at the four corners of the square, and sentries 
with fixed bayonets at every door, whilst others incessantly 
patrolled the streets. 

In the beginning of August the whole of the correspondence 
was published in the " Semanario," with the exception of two 
of Mr. Washburn's letters, which contained statements too 
dangerous for publicity. In one of them he spoke of Mr. Bliss 
and myself in high terms ; him as a literary man of great talent, 
and me as a " recluse devoted to science," and the most unlikely 
person in the world to meddle with plots and revolutions. 

Benitez very acutely replied, ' i Your Excellency spoke in the 
same high terms of Carreras, Eodriguez, and the other confessed 
criminals (reos confesados) before they were taken prisoners, and 
now they are liars and perjurers ;" showing how great an errot 
Mr. Washburn had committed, in admitting that they might 
have given voluntary evidence against him, when he knew per- 
fectly well that it was impossible they could have done so. It 



THE CONSPIRACY. 



207 



was evident that torture bad been applied, or that the words 
had been put into their mouths. One document, purporting to 
be the evidence of Don Benigno Lopez, was quite a curiosity 
in its way. It described with wonderful minuteness a visit he 
had paid to Mr. "Washburn, how they talked together, w r here 
they sat, of the interruption to their conference by the entrance 
of " Cati" (Kate, Mrs. Washburn's maid) with a tray of glasses 
with brandy and water, of the gold he then paid to him, and 
the two clothes-basketsful of paper money his slaves afterwards 
brought up for distribution amongst the conspirators, and so on, 
All, except the payment of the money and part of the conversa- 
tion, was true without doubt ; for Mr. Washburn did talk most j 
imprudently. Amongst ourselves it was all very well to say 
what we thought of the war and the character of Lopez ; but 
he used to tell things to natives — to this very Don Benigno, to 
Berges, to many others, and especially to a smooth- spoken? 
flattering Italian, named Parodi, who 1 ' Your Excellency "-ed 
him into the most perilous of confidences, and then betrayed 
all to Mrs. Lynch — which, perfectly right in themselves as mere 
personal opinions, became treason and conspiracy if the point 
of view were shifted a little. 

And he had placed himself in a false position from the first. 
None knew better than he the character of Lopez ; that he was 
i cruel, selfish, unscrupulous tyrant, who, sooner or later, by 
^low degrees, or some great calamity, would inflict unspeakable 
misery upon the people he ruled ; for was he not writing a book 
on Paraguay at which the world was to wonder and shudder ? 
And yet he could write such a despatch as the one I have quoted 
to the Brazilian Minister, and could return to Paraguay, 
after once leaving it in safety, and by his very presence give a 
moral support to Lopez, which was of incalculable value to him. 

And he made his position worse by those unfortunate letters, 
which served no useful purpose. We should not have been 
arrested one day the sooner if he had not written one of them. 
He was perfectly innocent of having conspired against Lopez, of 
course ; for there was not, and never had been, any conspiracy ; 



208 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



j but his love of trading, his want of dignity and independence, 
his frequent sinning against those subtle laws, " the habits of 
good society," and of which the Paraguayans, with their grave, 
formal, Spanish politeness, think so much, were really the sources 
of all his trouble ; and his helping a man whom he could not 
conscientiously support, was the error they punished. The 
dread he showed of any examination being made of his papers 
puzzled me for a time, until I found that it was the manuscript 
of his " History" which imperilled him. But the very fiscales, 
the native prosecutors, began at last to believe from his manner 
that the story they had themselves concocted was true, and that 
the " papeles de Berges," which had never existed, were actually 
hidden in the iron safe. 

In the midst of all this writing, war had not been forgotten. 
Lopez, finding his position at San Fernando a bad one, fell back 
and marched forty leagues higher up the river to Villeta, and 
threw up a strong battery two leagues below, at Angustura (the 
narrows), to command the river, on the very spot where 
Sebastian Gabot, in 1568, had his first fight with the Indians of 
Paraguay. The Brazilians followed him, landed on the right 
bank of the river below Angustura, and then, making a road 
through the Chaco marshes — a work of immense labour and 
difficulty — marched up above him, the Argentines remaining at 
Palmas, a few miles below. We could plainly hear the firing 
in Asuncion, and hoped, though against hope, that the Allies 
would at last show some activity, and release us from our dan- 
gerous position. 

Lopez, at this period, was seized with a sudden fit of devo- 
tion ; he had a chapel built in front of his quarters at San Fer- 
nando, and attended mass there daily at noon, and, in addition, 
he would sometimes remain on his knees for two or three hours 
at a time, motionless and silent before the altar. 

His hut was partly underground, and, with the chapel, pro- 
tected by an immense mound of earth, and he rarely moved, 
except at night, beyond the shelter of it. He seemed to have 
abandoned the army to its fate after the retreat from Humaita ; 



ESCAPE 07 ME. WASHBUEN. 



209 



and devoted the whole of his attention to the reports of the 
tribunals appointed to try the prisoners, and in inventing new 
punishments for them. He had always been in the habit of 
drinking freely, and now did so to excess, passing his time in 
alternate fits of intoxication and devotion. 

Ever since the arrest of Carreras the Legation had been com- 
pletely invested ; as I have said, there was a picket of a dozen 
men at each corner of the house, and a chain of sentries around 
it from sunset to sunrise, but the native servants used to talk 
with the men, and we learnt in this way what was going 
outside our little world. One day the former told us that a 
" canonero Americano" had arrived; and sure enough, on the 
29th of August, Mr. Washburn received a letter from the com- 
mander of the " Wasp," United States gunboat. 

He was overjoyed, and well he might be ; for it was very 
doubtful how much longer he would have been personally un- 
molested ; and at once demanded his passports, which were not 
sent, however, until the 8th of September, and then we learnt 
that our fate was sealed. " The criminals, Bliss and Masterman, 
must remain to be tried by the tribunal of the country," said the 
letter enclosing the passports for the rest. 

I passed the morning of the last day in writing letters to 
my friends in England (for although I had a strong presentiment 
that my life would be spared, yet I felt that the chance was a 
desperate one), and in hiding a little quinine and opium in the 
seams of my coat. 

In the afternoon, Senora Leite-Pereira, who had been per- 
mitted to stay after the arrest of her husband, left to return to 
the house of her mother, a few miles from the capital. I have 
not heard what became of her afterwards. 

We went to bed soon. I slept but little, and was dressed by 
daybreak, then had a glass of milk and a biscuit, and waited for 
the end. The French and Italian consuls came early; to the 
latter Mr. Washburn left the care of the large amount of per- 
sonal property belonging to foreigners, who had sent it there 
for safety, but to fall, however, the more readily into the 

u 



210 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY . 



hands of Lopez, and which he did not make the slightest effort 
to save. 

Mons. Cuverville told me of his own apprehensions ; that his 
chancellor, Mons. de Libertad, had been denounced, and was 
expecting arrest every hour; and also confirmed the story that 
every foreigner in Luque had been arrested. 

In order to spare the feelings of Mrs. Washburn, it was 
arranged that she should leave the Legation escorted by Mr. 
Meinke, the secretary, and her two English servants ; and that 
the rest should not start till she was out of sight. As I accom- 
panied her to the porte-cochere the police made a rush at me, 
but I disappointed them for a moment. 

I shook hands with the native servants, not forgetting my 
particular friend, Basilio's mother, who gave me her blessing, 
and then waited till Mr. Washburn was ready. 

At the last moment he repeated what he had said more in 
detail the night before, that we were at liberty to accuse him 
of any crime, if, by doing so, we could secure our own safety ; 
for he had heard from the servants that all the prisoners had 
been tortured, and expected that we should have to pass through 
the same terrible ordeal. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



JOURNEY TO VILLETA 1 AM PUT TO THE TORTURE EXECUTION 

OF CARRERAS AND BENITEZ. 

We left the house together, but Mr. Washburn walked so 
rapidly that the consuls and ourselves could scarcely keep up 
with him, and he was a few yards ahead when we reached the 
end of the colonnade. There the police, who had been closing 
around us, simultaneously drew their swords, rushed forwards, 
and roughly separated us from the consuls. I raised my hat, 
and said, loudly and cheerfully, "Good-bye, Mr. Washburn ; 
don't forget us." He half turned his face, which was deathly 
pale, made a deprecative gesture with his hand, and hurried 
away. We — that is, Mr. Bliss, the negro Baltazar,* and myself 
— were surrounded by about thirty policemen (the rest taking 
charge of the Legation), who, with shouts and yells, ordered 
us to march down to the Policia. I had burdened myself with 
a travelling-bag filled with linen, a water-proof sheet, and a 
thin light mattress ; but I might have spared myself the trouble, 
for they were all taken from me. When we reached the office 
we were halted in the road, and kept standing there about an 
hour ; then the negro was taken within, after some time Mr. 
Bliss, and lastly myself. When my turn came I found the 
chief of police seated in the corridor, with a group of his savage 
myrmidons around him ; he looked at me in silence for some 
minutes, and then by a gesture ordered me to be stripped. My 

* A servant of Dr. Carreras. 



212 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



clothes were most strictly and systematically examined, the 
lining torn out, and every fold ripped up ; my little packets of 
quinine and opium were of course discovered, pounced upon 
with a shout of triumph by the men, and put carefully on one 
side. My handkerchief, cravat, and money were taken from 
me, the rest returned. I was then told to sit down, that fetters 
might be rivetted on my ankles, and afterwards taken through a 
side court, and thrust into a cell. The door was secured, there 
was no window, and I was left in total darkness to my bitter 
reflections. 

I rolled up my poncho for a pillow, lay down on the ground, 
for there was not even a stool in the dungeon, and tried to 
sleep ; but in vain : so I passed the time by carefully reviewing 
the events of the past six months, so as to fix them clearly in 
my memory, and I did the same systematically every day after- 
wards ; for I had a firm presentiment that, although I should 
have to suffer much and long, my life would be preserved, and 
that I should some day tell the story as I am now relating it. 

About seven o'clock in the evening the door opened; a 
sergeant and two men entered with a lantern : one carried a 
hammer and a small anvil, the other a set of irons. I rose as 
they came in, but the sergeant motioned me to lie down again. 
The fetters I was wearing were removed, and the massive bar 
the man bore on his shoulder was rivetted in their place. Two 
rough iron loops, with eyes at their extremities, were first 
placed over my ankles ; then the bar, which was about eighteen 
inches long, and two in diameter, was thrust through the eyes, 
and an iron wedge, with many a blow of the heavy hammer, 
rivetted firmly at one end, whilst a broad head secured it at the 
other. Thus fettered, it was with the greatest difficulty that I 
staggered to my feet, and then sat down again scarcely able to 
bear the weight. I had previously heard the clang of the 
hammer as they were rivetting similar irons on my companions. 

A short time afterwards the sergeant reappeared, and motioned 
me in silence to follow him. I did so. He led me to the front 
of the Policia, where, by the light of some lanterns, I saw Mr. 



EN EOUTE. 



213 



Bliss and Baltazar mounted sideways on mules, and another 
waiting for me. 

I was lifted into the saddle, for the thirty or more pounds' 
weight of my fetters prevented me even raising a foot from the 
ground. The group of brutal policemen wished us, amid shouts 
of laughter, buenos noches and a pleasant journey, and we started, 
guarded by a sergeant and two men armed to the teeth. I 
recognized in the former an old patient of mine ; and he must 
have been a good-natured fellow, for as soon as we were out of 
sight of the Policia he stopped us, dismounted, and tied the 
strap of the off- stirrups to the bar of our fetters, and showed 
us that we could thus support them with our hands ; but my 
wrists were nearly dislocated by their weight before we reached 
the end of our journey. I thought at first from the direction 
that we were only going to the railway station; but I soon 
found to my dismay that Villeta was our destination, a distance 
of thirty-five miles. 

The journey, apart from the pain I was suffering, was one of 
inexpressible sadness to me, as the road lay for many miles 
through the beautiful lanes, bordered with cedras and bitter 
orange trees, where I used to ride almost daily, and in which I 
had botanized and sketched a hundred times. There was no 
moon, but the stars were shining brightly in the cloudless sky ; 
and every copse, every dell, where the ferns and tall arums 
grew, was visible in their yellow light. And the white quintas, 
shaded with trellised vines and climbing roses, where I had 
passed so many happy hours, and the familiar gardens and 
fields around them, called up scenes and reminiscences I would 
gladly have forgotten till better days. The houses were empty, 
many already falling to decay ; their owners were dead, or 
prisoners like myself; the fences destroyed, and the gardens 
trampled by straying cattle. Destruction and desolation, war, 
pestilence, and famine had swept all trace of gladness from the 
land, leaving only bitter memories and vain regrets. 

I begged the sergeant to let us travel as slowly as possible ; 
for at every step the heavy bar swung backwards and forwards, 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



and a jolt was agonizing. He did so ; but once, in descending 
a steep slope, the mules broke into a trot ; in trying to steady 
the bar I lost my balance, and fell to the ground. I was tied 
to the girths, and, unable to extricate myself, was dragged for 
some distance head downwards, the mule kicking viciously the 
while. Fortunately, the only damage was a deep cut in the 
ankle and a few bruises. The sergeant kindly let me lie on the 
grass a little while, and then we went on again. The road soon 
became very bad ; and in a deep miry ravine my companions 
were both thrown, but were only slightly hurt. At each guardia 
we stopped a few minutes, and I could get a draught of water to 
relieve the burning thirst I suffered ; for the rough blistered iron 
soon cut through trousers, boots, and socks, and swung on the 
bare flesh whenever my tired arms forced me to let it fall. The 
pain fevered me ; indeed, it was sometimes so intense that the 
dread of a broken leg alone kept me from fainting. 

The path often took us near the river, and I saw distinctly 
the lights of the steamer which was carrying Mr. Washburn and 
his family down to the gunboat at Angustura. Sometimes we 
had difficulty in proceeding through the deep ruts and marshy 
ground ; but we had light enough to find our way, for the night 
was, as I have said, a most beautiful one, still and warm, the 
air fragrant with the perfume of the orange blossoms and the 
flowering orchids which hung in festoons from the wayside 
trees, and brightened by the fire-flies sparkling and flashing 
amid their branches. 

At length that long night passed away ; the stars one by one 
sunk beneath the western ridge, the air grew colder, and the 
grey dawn broke as we neared the basaltic hill of Ypane, but 
still many miles from our destination. A few men and girls 
bearing baskets on their heads passed us occasionally on their 
way to the encampment ; some did not raise their eyes from 
the ground, others looked at us pityingly ; but the spectacle of 
prisoners passing in chains was too common to excite either 
surprise or comment. I was greatly exhausted with pain and 
hunger, and, seeing a girl carrying a basket of bread, I begged 



VILLETA. 



215 



the sergeant to give us a morsel to eat ; he kindly bought a 
little cake of baked cassava meal, and, looking round cautiously 
to make sure that none were watching, divided it amongst us ; 
it was but a mouthful, but as I had taken nothing but a glass of 
milk the day before I was glad enough of it. He had been very 
considerate with us during the whole of the journey; but now, as 
people were about, and an officer might pass at any moment, he 
dared not show us any more kindness ; he spoke roughly, and 
urged us on at a quicker pace. We went over hill after hill, or 
rather swelling uplands covered with coarse grass and low 
shrubs, and at length surmounted that overlooking the little 
village of Villeta ; there we halted before a group of officers ; 
my feet were untied, and I fell exhausted, and more dead than 
alive, on the ground. 

An alferez harshly told me to stand up. I tried, but the weight 
of my irons threw me on my face, but at length, by a violent effort, 
I staggered to my feet. A few paces off was a square space, 
enclosed with hide ropes ; I was told to go within it, and then, 
too fatigued to notice the poor wretches, my fellow-prisoners, I 
threw myself on the bare ground, and fell almost immediately 
into a deep sleep. Late in the afternoon I was awakened by a 
blow with a stick, and told to rise and march towards a little 
grove of orange trees about half a mile off. Aching in every 
limb, I obeyed, and, supporting my fetters with a strip of hide, 
moved with pain and difficulty in the direction indicated, as fasti 
as my bruised and bleeding feet would carry me. A carbo, or 
corporal, followed, armed with a bayonet and a stick. " Go 
faster ! " he shouted every moment. I tried, but in vain, to do 
so. He thrashed me savagely with his stick over my shoulders 
and arms, knocked me down, and beat me more cruelly for 
falling. At last, bruised and breathless, I reached a group of 
little huts, made of branches and reeds, and placed in two rows. 
I saw Mr. Bliss and Baltazar taken separately on one side ; I 
went to the other, and entered the farthest hut. Within it was 
seated an old captain, named Falcon, and a priest, whom I after- 
wards found acted as secretary. 



216 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



The former signed me to enter, and, after scrutinizing me for 
a few minutes, said, " Ah i we have got you at last. Now, 
confess that Washburn is the chief of the conspirators, and that 
you took refuge in the Legation for the purpose of plotting 
against the Government." I replied that I had no confession 
to make, that I had never plotted against the Government, but 
had done all that lay in my power to serve the Paraguayans, 
that I was sure that Mr. Washburn was quite innocent of the 
crimes alleged against him * r and I explained in a few words 
under .what circumstances I had entered his service. He heard 
me with many marks of impatience to the end, and then said, 
" You will not confess?" "I have no confession to make." 
" Confess," he repeated, "or I will see if we cannot make 
you." Then turning to the priest he told him to take me out 
and put me in the rack (_pctfro). He took me behind the hut, 
but close to it, so that Falcon within could hear all that passed. 
I prayed silently for strength to bear this great trial, and then 
looked round for the implements of torture ; but found that 
these savages, like those in " The Last of the Mohicans," 
ought to have expressed regret that their means of inflicting 
pain were so primitive. The priest again urged me to confess, 
but I replied, as before, that I was not a conspirator, and had 
no confession to make. He then said something to the corporal, 
in Guarani, who shouted out, " Bring the Uruguay ana here ! " 
At his call two soldiers came forward, carrying a bundle of 
muskets, and ropes made of strips of hide. I was told to seat 
myself on the ground, with my knees raised ; I did so, and 
was again asked, " Will you confess ?" "No ; I am innocent." 

One of the men tied my arms tightly behind me, the other 
passed a musket under my knees, and then putting his foot 
between my shoulders forced my head down until my throat 
rested on the lower musket; a second was put over the back of 
my neck, and they were firmly lashed together. They left me 
so for some time, striking the butt-ends of the fire-locks occa- 
sionally with a mallet ; tne priest meanwhile, in a monotonous 
voice, as if he were repeating a formula he had often gone 



LA URUGUAYANA. 



217 



through, urged me to confess and " receive the mercy of the 
kind and generous Marshal Lopez." I made no reply, but 
suffered the intense pain they were inflicting in silence. At 
length they unbound me, and I was asked once more, " Will 
you confess ? " I replied in the negative. They bound me up 
as before, but with two muskets at the back of my neck. As 
they were tightening the cords I threw my head forward to 
avoid the pressure on my throat, and my lips were badly cut 
and bruised against the lower musket ; the blood almost choked 
me, and I fainted from the excruciating pain. 

When I recovered I was lying on the grass utterly exhausted, 
and felt that I could bear no more ; that it would be far prefer- 
able to make a pretended confession, and be shot, than suffer 
such cruel torture. So as they were about to again apply the 
Uruguay ana, as it is called by them, I said, " I am guilty; I will 
confess: " and they immediately unbound me. The priest said, 
"Why were you such an obstinate fool? Your companion 
Bliss was only threatened with the torture, and confessed at 
once." This was the case, as he told me himself afterwards. 
I had heard poor Baltazar loudly praying for mercy several 
times, and now the sounds of heavy blows, each followed by a 
shriek from him, proved how much more they were prepared to 
inflict upon us : they were flogging him most cruelly, and after- 
wards crushed his fingers with a mallet. I pitied him very 
much ; for he knew nothing whatever about the pretended plot, 
nor the charges against his master, and could not save himself, 
even by protesting that he was guilty. 

I drank some water, and tried to eat a little meat they offered 
me, but could not. And then, returning within the hut, I told, 
as well as I could remember it, part of the same story which 
had been wrested from Carreras, Berges, Benigno Lopez, and 
the rest, whose depositions I had read with Mr. Washburn. 
There was no help for it, but God knows with what agony and 
shame I repeated that wretched tissue of fables and misrepre- 
sentations. But it must be remembered that for three months 
I had suffered great anxiety, daily expecting to be arrested ; 



218 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



that I knew how mercilessly those who refused to confess were 
mangled before execution ; that I had had a long and painful 
journey ; and that I had been without food for two days. On 
the other hand, I could do but little wrong to the accused. Mr. 
Washburn was safe on board the " Wasp " ; Rodriguez, Gomez 
(late the Mayor-de-Plaza), Bedoya, Barrios, and Gonzales, had 
already been shot or had died ; and as to the others, I could 
only repeat as such what I had read of their own depositions. 

I had had also the express permission of Mr. Washburn to 
say anything against him I pleased. He says in his evidence 
before a Committee of Congress, in answer to Mr. Willard — 

"I said to Bliss and Masterman you may say anything about me 
that you think may help you. You may say that you saw me steal 
sheep, or commit burglary, if you think you can thereby prolong 
your lives." Washington, U.S., March 30, 1869.) 

My belief from the first was, that they wanted me simply as 
a deponent, and such was really the case ; and if I had not 
given the false testimony they required it would have been 
forged, and I should have been shot to prevent its contradiction. * 
However, I made a very lame story of it, although it was easy 
to so represent the words and actions of Mr. Washburn as to 
make his opinions appear overt acts of conspiracy. As for the 
rest, I declared, truthfully enough, that they had never talked 
with me on the subject. Falcon, and especially the priest, got 
out of all patience with me ; twenty times they threatened to 
put me in the jwtro again, and twice were on the point of doing 
so, when I luckily remembered something Mr. Washburn had 
said against Lopez. I think the old captain was not a br„d 
fellow, and he helped me whenever he could by leading ques- 
tions, and elaborated my scanty evidence into quite an imposing 
deposition : but, of course, he stood himself on the edge of a 
precipice, and had he shown any open sympathy for me his life 

* In the " depositions" not a word had been said by any one against me, and 
this increased my difficulties, for I did not know what they expected me to 
accuse myself of. 



FATHER EOMAN. 



219 



would not have been worth an hour's purchase. The priest, on 
the contrary, exhibited the most venomous spite against me, 
sneered at my " half revelations," and urged Falcon over and 
over again to "put that obstinate devil (myself) in the Uru- 
guay ana, and make an end of him." 

During my examination several officers came in, Major Aveiro, 
Capt. Jara, Col. Serrano, and others. Jara was the son and 
heir of Don Luis Jara, the late owner of the house Mr. Wash- 
burn occupied, and for which, relying on his privilege as a 
minister, he most unwisely refused to pay any rent ; he was very 
anxious to know what had been said on the subject. I told him, 
and answered the questions of the others as vaguely as I could. 

From the conversation and questions of these men I gathered 
several valuable hints as to the course I had best adopt, and I 
also ascertained^ incidentally that Mr. Washburn w^as then on 
board the " Wasp," and that I could not therefore endanger his 
safety by anything I should say against him. 

Late at night a priest named Roman came in, and asked for 
my depositions. Falcon, who was evidently in great awe ofj 
him, handed over the papers. He read them through, was 
about to tear them in pieces, but restrained himself, and threw 
them contemptuously on the table, saying, " Que miser ables dis- 
parates!" (What wretched trash !) Then turning to me, "Are 
these your revelations ? Now, look you, I go for a short ride, 
and if on my return I do not find that you have confessed 
clearly that the great beast ( gran besiia ) Washburn is the chief 
conspirator, that he was in treaty with Caxias, and that he 
received money and letters from the enemy, and that you knew 
it, I will put you in the Uruguay ana, and keep you there till 
you do." Captain Falcon seemed to draw a long breath when 
his terrible colleague had withdrawn. I begged for a little time 
to arrange my thoughts, promising to then tell them all I knew. 
I might well ask it : I had been under examination fully six 
hours, and was utterly worn out. At this moment, as I pause 
to recollect what I said, how vividly the whole scene comes 
before me ! The little hut, about ten feet by six, made of hur- 



220 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



dies covered with reeds, and lighted fitfully by two flaring tallow 
candles as their flame sways in the wind. In the centre is a 
table with three sound legs, and the broken fourth lengthened 
with a stout piece of sugar-cane tied to it with a strip of hide. 
On it are the candles guttering into their rude holders of sun- 
dried clay, and lighting strongly the face of the low-browed 
priest ; a mean, crafty face, furrowed with wrinkles, which make 
him look double his age, and not improved by the rough stubble 
which covers his lean angular jaws — he has not shaved for a 
week ; and the tonsure on his occiput looks like a weedy clear- 
ing. He is biting his ragged nails, and watching the face of the 
captain with a weary r impatient look, which changes to one of 
fawning humility if their glances meet. 

His companion has gladly given me the time I asked for ; he 
is tired and perplexed himself, and is smoking his cigar without 
enjoyment, chewing rather than burning it. He is a short, 
stout man, with a bald Lead, and now that he has taken off his 
huge silver-rimmed spectacles, he wears an air of bonhomie 
strangely at variance with his present employment. He is 
seated on a box filled with piles of manuscript, the depositions 
of the accused : never, perhaps, in the history of the world, 
have so many lies been crammed into so small a space ! Be- 
yond is his bed, a raw hide laid on a few bundles of long grass 
— no bedclothes ; he will roll himself in his poncho presently, 
and sleep as he is — turn in all standing, as a sailor would say. 
Above hangs his sword, a pistol, and his horse gear, and that is 
all. I am seated near the door on a low stool, the top made like 
the inverted ridge of a house. Outside, the guards, three men, are 
lying asleep on the ground, one is grasping his musket in his brown 
sinewy hand, those of the others are leaning against the hut. 

The clanking of my irons, as I move uneasily on the hard 
seat, calls the attention of the " fiscal" to the business in 
hand. " Come, Masterman," he says, not unkindly, "let us 
have the whole of the story ; tell us how the great beast 
intended to destroy us all." He puts on his spectacles again, 
and writes down my words in a condensed form on a spare 



/ 



MY CONFESSION. 



221 



piece of paper, for he likes to amplify them himself, without 
any particular attention to what I did say ; but I am too tired 
to object and protest as I did at first, and am not sure but that 
it is better to let him do as he likes. " The criminal, having 
confessed freely and voluntarily his guilt," he begins to dictate 
to his secretary, the awkward subject of torture being kept in 
the shade, "and having been solemnly admonished by the 
Serlores Fiscales to tell the whole of the truth, now, in order 
to relieve his burdened conscience, deposes that Washburn was 
the originator and chief mover in the plot," and so on through 
tw T o sheets of closely written foolscap. I got on swimmingly 
for a time, but presently I was asked how much money Wash- 
burn had paid me, " Not a rial/" I answered, stoutly, and 
truly enough. "How much were you offered?" asked the 
priest. "Nothing: he never offered me money, for I might 
have accepted it." " Senor Capitan," said he, turning im- 
patiently to his companion, and pointing a trembling finger at 
me, "put this anariu, this son of the fiend, in the potro ; crush 
him at once ; he is misleading us with lies." 

I protested earnestly that I had told the truth, and whilst 
talking was racking my wits for some plan by which I might 
reconcile my admission of guilt with the statement I had made, 
that I had never been one of the conspirators, my great dread 
being that they should demand evidence against the Ballesteros, 
Lasserres, and others — my personal friends many of them, 
others known only to me by name — who had been arrested 
some months before, but might be still in existence ; and I 
would have died under the torture rather than have done so. 
I rapidly arranged a plan which served my purpose, and enabled 
me to put on one side many perilous questions. Thus : I had 
had many disputes with Mr. Washburn on political and literary 
subjects ; he, a democrat of ultra red-republican principles, 
and extremely liable to forget, in the heat of argument, the 
amenities of civilized society, and detesting England most 
heartily, was not very likely to agree with me on these points ; 
and we had many w T ordy differences. I magnified these into 



222 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



quarrels ; and put it to them, as reasonable men, if it were 
likely that a person who regarded me as an enemy, and who 
only retained me in the house because he needed my profes- 
sional services, would place his life in my hands by confiding 
such a secret fully to my keeping ? and, told them that, in 
my opinion, I had only received the partial initiation which 
constituted my guilt, because he feared that I should by some 
accident discover what was going on, and in revenge denounce 
him. Whereas, by telling me part of the plans he would secure 
rny silence as an accomplice, and moreover make it a point of 
liOnour with me to guard a secret which had been so generously 
confided to me by a man who hated and had ill-treated me. 
My story, plausible enough in itself, had just enough truth in 
it to make them readily receive it. 

Falcon listened to this with every sign of approval ; and as 
it was now nearly midnight he told me I could lie down on the 
sand and sleep, a little way from the hut, whilst my evidence was 
clean copied. I could not sleep, and lay in the dark, for the night 
was stormy, and black clouds swept across the angry sky, 
revolving the trying events of the day. More than an hour 
passed; I was then recalled, and my " first deposition" read 
over to and signed by me. As I was leaving the hut the old 
captain gave me half a loaf of chipa, for which I warmly thanked 
him ; and he promised that on the morrow my heavy fetters 
should be exchanged for lighter ones. The soldiers were 
awakened, and I was marched back to the guardia ; my feet 
were firmly tied to a hide rope. I wrapped my poncho, a thick 
railway- rug, around me, and was soon soundly sleeping. 

When I awoke in the morning I found I was wet through, 
and lying in a pool of water (heavy rain had fallen, and the 
wind was bitterly cold), and that it is indeed true that mis- 
fortune makes us acquainted with strange bed-fellows. On 
one side of me was bound Don Ant.onio de las Carreras still 
sleeping, and the corpse of Lieut. -Colonel Campos on the other. 
The latter had died unheeded and untended during the night, 
and lay there staring blankly with open eyes at the rising sun. 



THE GUAKDIA. 



223 



About seven o'clock in the morning the end of the hide rope 
was untied, the sleepers awakened by a shower of blows, and 
we in turn freed ourselves from the knotted loops round our 
ankles. The corpse was thrown into a hide, and dragged away; 
the officer in command of the guard remarking, " What, only 
one this morning ! " and thrown into the river. We were then 
placed about ten feet apart, and I was warned not to speak 
to my companions ; so I sat down in the driest spot I could 
find within my limits, and looked wearily around me. What a 
scene of misery ! 

Within a space on the gently sloping hill- side, which had been 
roughly cleared from brushwood, and about a hundred feet 
square, lay forty prisoners ; and on all sides, as far as I could 
see, were similar enclosures tenanted in the same way. The 
nearest was somewhat luxurious, for each prisoner had a little 
straw kennel to lie down in ; and there I saw Don Yenancio, 
the President's eldest brother, and Captain Fidanza, an old 
friend of Mr. Washburn's ; the rest were officers, some of high 
rank. I have said that Dr. Carreras lay next to me during the 
night : I was removed some distance from him in the morning ; 
but he had time to whisper, " Has Mr. Washburn gone?" 
"Yes." He was about to ask other questions when a sentry 
noticed us, and growled, " Hold your tongue." He was a 
pitiable object ; indeed, so changed that I could scarcely recog- 
nize him. Emaciated, travel and blood-stained, he was but a 
shadow of his former self, and for two months he had been lying, 
as I saw him, in the open air, with no shelter from sun or rain 
but a blanket. He had rolled this up for a seat, and was fur- 
tively trying to question me by the motion of his lips. His 
hands were covered with dirty rags ; he unrolled them, and' 
showed me his mutilated fingers, a sickening sight; but the 
greater part of the day he sat motionless, with sunken eyes bent 
on the ground, and his scanty grey hair blowing unheeded over 
his face. His servant, poor Baltazar, in the farthest corner, had 
thrown himself face downwards on the earth, and lay there, 
refusing all food, until he died a few days afterwards. 



224 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



The only other man I knew in our sad company was Mr. 
Taylor, the master-builder; he was not in irons, but looked 
sadly ill and worn. He was with a group of Italians, as I judged 
from their accent, who were somewhat privileged ; they had 
made a little tent by stretching a sheet over four sticks about 
two feet high driven into the ground, and were allowed to talk 
together ; they had some yerba, and now were boiling water in 
a tin pot over a fire in their midst, for they, with the exception 
of one of their number, who seemed to be sick, had crept from 
under their scanty covering, and sat in a circle outside ; for want 
of a mate, the tea was brewed in a cow's horn, and sucked in 
turn through n tin bombilla. Taylor looked at me, and raised 
his hands with a gesture of commiseration, but did not dare to 
give any other sign of recognition. In the centre of the prison 
encampment, or guardia, as the natives termed it, was a row of 
priests, I think eight in number ; they were all in irons, and 
must have been recently brought in, for their long cloth cloaks 
were little worn: then some prisoners of war — there was a 
major and three captains amongst them, as I learnt when our 
names were called over ; they were not fettered, but were in the 
last stage of misery, almost, some quite, naked, covered with 
wounds, and the majority too feeble to walk ; and lastly, a 
group of felons, distinguished by a single iron ring on the right 
ankle ; these looked scarcely human, were without a rag of cloth- 
ing, and generally lay together in a huddled heap on the ground. 
From the latter classes a certain number was selected every 
day to sweep out the guardia, and bring wood and water for 
themselves and the rest ; blows, kicks, and the vilest abuse 
being showered upon them by the soldiers at every step. 

In our rear was the kitchen ; that is, a large iron pot set over 
a fire in the open air ; there a stalwart negro, assisted by several 
prisoners, prepared the food for all the guardias around, and 
little enough it was ; a small allowance of boiled meat and broth 
in the morning, and at night a handful of parched maize and 
the bones and scraps left by the soldiers. I saw Carreras, once 
the most influential man in Uruguay, an ex-prime minister, 



VILLETA. 



225 



eagerly gnawing the gristle from a few well-picked bones con- 
temptuously thrown him by a passer-by. Can I give a more 
vivid picture of our miserable condition ? The meat, when 
cooked, was put into little wooden troughs, and then distributed 
amongst the prisoners. They were arranged in groups of five, 
and a trough placed in their midst ; some had horn spoons, 
others pieces of orange peel or broken gourds, and with these 
they drank the broth, and then divided the meat and bones. 
The horn spoons were coveted treasures, I found; and when a 
prisoner died who had had one, there used to be a furious con- 
tention amongst the survivors for its possession, often leading 
to a severe thrashing administered indiscriminately to all within 
reach. As I had only just been sent there, nothing was given 
to me until late, when the negro cook came by with a piece of 
roast meat he was eating, and gave me part of it. This was 
the third day I had fasted, but for the chipa I had had the night 
before ; but I had no wish to eat. I only begged for water, and 
that they would not give me. 

In the afternoon I was again called before the fiscales, and 
my examination continued, this time conducted by Father 
Roman himself. The same old story was gone over ; I 
repeated every conversation I could remember of Mr. Wash- 
burn's, in which Lopez was abused or laughed at, keeping 
always in view the tale I had told the day before, and declaring, 
whenever the subject was mentioned, that I knew nothing 
whatever of the conspiracy, but that it had existed, and the 
few particulars I could glean from the depositions of Berges 
and Carreras. Padre Roman was more easily satisfied than I 
had expected, and dismissed me about eight o'clock at night. 
I was taken a short distance to another hut, where I found 
Major Aveiro (a negro) and Lieut. Levalle, a Paraguayan, 
who had been educated in England, and spoke English 
and French very fairly. They had learnt, from Mr. Bliss, 
that I had written home by Mr. Washburn ; but he told 
them that the letter was to my mother, saying nothing about 
the other one to The Times, I, by a fortunate coinci- 

15 



226 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



dence, said the same ; for I should have had little chance of 
saving my life if the latter had been known to exist. I was 
now ordered to write another letter, which Aveiro dictated in 
Spanish — my version was, of course, in English — in which I 
was made to say that I was guilty of the crime of conspiring 
against Lopez, that I had freely and voluntarily confessed it 
and the guilt of Mr. Washburn, and had thrown myself upon 
the mercy of the President, who would, I hoped, spare my life. 
This was most carefully examined by Levalle, word by word, 
and explained to Aveiro and another officer who was present. 
One phrase puzzled them: I had written, " Mr. Washburn 
conspired against H. E. the President and the Government of 
Paraguay." Aveiro said, "But his Excellency is the Govern- 
ment — there can be no other ruler here;" utterly unable to 
conceive the idea of a constitutional administration. Father 
Boman came in afterwards, and I reminded him of the promise 
that my fetters should be exchanged. He told me that on the 
morrow it should be done, and that I should have better food 
and treatment ; I expect, in consequence of a letter which Mr. 
Washburn had sent to Lopez, in which he protested against the 
outrage of detaining forcibly two members of his suite, reminding 
him that seizing us in the street in his presence was as great 
an insult to the American flag as if we had been taken in the 
Legation itself, and that the Government of his country would 
certainly avenge it. Mr. Bliss was then brought in, and he 
was asked if his former statement about the letter was true ; 
he replied; " Yes ; " and to prevent any dangerous cross- 
examination I told him rapidly what I had said and written. I 
was further ordered to write another letter, to the fiscales them- 
selves, which was dictated to me by Boman. In it I humbly 
asked permission to write the letter " as a relief to my burdened 
conscience, and to further the ends of justice" ! 

I afterwards found that Mr. Bliss had already written a long 
letter to Mr. Washburn, in which he says: " Finding myself 
at length released from the restraint which your Excellency has 
so long exercised over my will, I cannot do less than confess 



DR. CABRERAS. 



227 



freely and spontaneously the important part Y. E. has taken in 
the revolution, in which you have involved many persons, and 
among them myself. I have declared (feeling deeply, because 
I would like to avoid such a scandal to Y. E., but following out 
the truth) that your Excellency has been the soul of the revolu- 
tion ; and if this deed now appears in the light of heaven, 
confessed to by all its accomplices, to whom does it owe its 
existence, save to Y. E., who has continued its direction up to 
a very recent period ? I consider myself therefore completely 
absolved from the promise which Y. E. extorted from me yester- 
day, in your office, not to reveal your proceedings, old or new." 
This is continued for some time, and ends, after asking him to 
send back his letters : " The truth having been fully displayed, 
these letters cannot serve your Excellency for any object, and 
since they are false, it suits me no longer to keep the mystery 
of hypocrisy," etc. " I advise you as a friend not to at- 

tempt to fight against the evidence given by infinite witnesses." 

Except in saying that I believed in the existence of a plot, 
that Mr. Washburn was the chief of it, and that I had been 
invited to join it, the whole of my evidence was perfectly true. 
For, fortunately for me, Mr. Washburn had been so hearty in 
his detestation and abuse of Lopez, in which I thoroughly 
agreed with him, and had expressed his feelings so incautiously, 
that I had no difficulty in satisfying the fiscales (within the 
limits my primary story prescribed), and without even betraying 
a confidence, since Mr. Washburn had given me express per- 
mission to say anything I liked against him. 

To return to my narrative : the next morning my irons were 
exchanged for lighter ones, and we each received a little cake of 
cassava meal, and boiled meat, which was afterwards continued 
twice a day. 

When it arrived I noticed one trait in the character of Dr. 
Carreras I liked very much. It is the custom in South America 
for slaves to bear the same surnames as their masters, and when 
the comanclante said that he had orders to give Carreras better 
food, the doctor cried eagerly, " There are two of that name 



228 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



here; there is the other," pointing to his dying servant, " surely 
we are both to have it." 

That day and the succeeding were most wretched ones for 
us ; the rain fell in torrents, and we had to sit or lie literally 
in a pool of water. But I soon found that even sitting unshel- 
tered in a drenching rain was preferable to exposure to the 
burning sun, which I afterwards endured hour after hour, prone 
on the cracked and scorched ground. The thirst I suffered the 
deepest draught could not have assuaged, much less the two 
hornfuls of water a day, all they gave us. If I, with a thick 
blanket to shelter my head, felt the torrid sun so much, what 
must the many naked captives beside me have suffered ? 

Some of them were natives, some Brazilian negroes ; they 
could bear it without much inconvenience ; but the majority 
were foreigners, and it was pitiable to see the expression of 
mute agony their faces bore, and the frantic eagerness with 
which they drained the horn, when at length it came round, to 
the last drop of the muddy, tepid water. The prisoners of war 
and the felons were better off than the rest in this respect ; 
they went twice a day to the pits into which the surface water 
drained, and served as wells ; they could there drink their fill, 
and bring back as much as their vessels would hold. Some had 
horns or tin pots, others gourds or pieces of hide formed into a 
bag. One happy man — for, with my parched throat, I looked 
upon his treasure with bitter envy — had a "Wellington boot in 
place of a pitcher. He was a Brazilian major — a ragged, dusty 
scarecrow; but as he passed, bearing carefully, by a stick 
inserted through the straps, that dripping bootful of dirty water, 
he was looked upon with angry, blood-shot eyes, fierce in their 
expression of intense longing to change places with him. For 
how selfish, how brutally callous, we all became in our misery ! 
how enviously we gazed at a man less heavily honed than our- 
selves, and almost cursed the poor wretch who had crept into 
the shade of a bush on the edge of the clearing ! One day, as 
the long straggling line returned from the pits, an Italian, his 
eyes glazed with fever, rose on his elbow as he heard the clink 



VILLETA. 



229 



of the tins, and in feeble tones begged but for a drop of water, 
groping blindly for a steadying hand the while ; the man he 
asked, himself tottering on the verge of the grave, repulsed 
him with a muttered imprecation, and the poor wretch fell 
back, half turned, and died. Thus day by day were our ranks 
thinned ; by twos and threes they passed away and were at 
rest. Did I pity them ? Ah, no ! I would then have wel- 
comed death with a sense of as glad relief as a tired child seeks 
its mother's arms. 

About a week afterwards I was removed a few yards to the 
rear with Dr. Carreras, and we each crept beneath a little hut 
of reeds about three feet high. Mine had been built over a bed 
of wild pine-apple, which, with reckless carelessness, or perhaps 
intentionally, had been left in situ. How thankful I felt for the 
shade ! and even for the occupation the uprooting of the cava- 
guata gave me ; I set to work with a pointed stick to dig down 
to the tough roots, but my hour's labour was scarcely finished 
when the order came to march. We were turned out into the 
sun, and had to wait for some time, for we were at the head of 
the sad procession and the hundreds of prisoners ; and the lines 
of the guard and men carrying the cooking pots and troughs were 
marshalled with difficulty, blows and curses being showered 
mercilessly on the sick and loiterers. 

From one of the hovels near me crept out on all-fours Don 
Benigno Lopez, the President's youngest brother ; he was well 
dressed, but heavily ironed ; and from another, a spectral old 
man I was long in recognizing as the ex-minister for foreign 
affairs, Don Jose Berges. He was leaning feebly on a hedge- 
stake, and was followed by his successor, Don Gumisindo 
Benitez, bareheaded and with naked fettered feet. Then two 
very old men, evidently in their second childhood ; they were 
without a rag to cover them ; one was' in irons, and could only 
crawl tremblingly on his hands and knees ; the other looked 
round with a timid smile on his silly face, pleased with the 
bustle around him, and evidently but faintly conscious of what 
was going on. Can any stronger proof be asked of the ferocious 



230 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



cruelty of Lopez ? Great-grandfathers in irons ! Men who 
had long since ceased to be responsible beings, who were no 
more to be feared than newly-born children, who were indeed 
in their life's revolution returning to helpless infancy ; such poor, 
shuddering, creaking wrecks of mortality to pass the remnant 
of their days as prisoners ! And what would their offence be ? 
A wailing complaint for the loss of their few comforts, a 
passionate lament for the death of their sons or grandchildren ; 
an idle word spoken in garrulous old age, and construed into 
treason, or perhaps simply the fact of their relationship to some 
poor wretch who had died in the rack or on the scaffold. 

At length we set off in an easterly direction, skirting the base 
of the hills, through a narrow defile, and then into a pathless 
wood. In the former we got into some confusion ; the prisoners 
were huddled together and separated a little from the soldiers 
who, with fixed bayonets or drawn swords, were guarding them. 
It was an opportunity I had long been waiting for ; for some 
minutes I was at the side of Dr. Carreras ; he asked me again, 
in an eager whisper, if Mr. Washburn had gone. " Yes, he is 
safe," I replied in the same cautious tone, and then went on to 
ask him if there were any truth in his depositions. " Xo, no — 
lies, all lies, from beginning to end!" " Why did you tell 
them ? " I asked somewhat unnecessarily. " That terrible Father 
Maiz," said he, " tortured me in the Uruguay ana on three suc- 
cessive days, and then smashed my fingers with a mallet." He 
looked at me with an expression of utter wretchedness on his 
worn face, and held out his maimed hands as a testimony. 
Then after a pause he asked me, " Have you confessed?" 
" Yes," I answered, sadly. " You have done well ; they would 
have compelled you to do so : God help us ! " I told him about 
a difficulty I had had in not being able to say how much money 
Mr. Washburn was said to have received from the Brazilians, 
although the sum had been mentioned several times in the 
" depositions," and asked how much I should say. " Fifteen 
thousand ounces, I told him," he replied; " lies, false, false ! " 
Rodriguez he had not seen for many weeks, and believed he 



VILLETA. 



231 



was dead. He asked me then about the fate of his servant, who 
had attended him since he was a child ; he had disappeared two 
days before, dead without doubt. 

In the forest a wide clearing was soon made, for it was prin- 
cipally of young timber, the blackened stumps still remaining 
showing how the old trees had been destroyed : it was too great 
a mercy to expect any shade to be left for us ; in fact, the clear- 
ing was so wide that the heat was as great as on the hill- side. 
The two old men being found too feeble to walk were each put 
in a hide, and carried with a pole by two soldiers ; they were 
tumbled out on the ground when we halted, close to me, yet 
thanked their bearers with " God reward you, my sons, God 
reward you ! " But the next day they were denied this favour, 
and were thrashed most horribly by the corporals to make them 
go faster ; it was heart-rending to hear them, in weak treble 
tones, praying for mercy, and to see them arrive an hour after 
the rest,* covered with dust and blood ; for they had crawled 
on their hands and knees nearly a mile. Several women were 
brought in that day, all but one strangers to me, but evidently 
belonging to the better class of natives ; two or three had the 
little huts I have mentioned, others had formed a screen of a 
shawl or two strained over a few sticks ; and I saw one poor 
girl, about sixteen years of age, crouched under a hide propped 
against her shoulders ; she never moved save to turn her screen 
as the sun wested, and sat with her eyes bent to the earth, and 
tears often stealing silently down her cheeks. One night the 
soldiers told them to sing; they murmured faintly a "triste," 
one of those melancholy love songs the Paraguayans are so fond 
of. As I listened to its wailing tones, scarcely louder than the 
night breeze, I thought I had never heard so piteously sad a 
strain. 

Soon after our arrival there, Don Benigno, Berges, and 
Carreras were sent away, and I was put apart from the rest, 
and received better food than they ; in fact, if I had only had 
shelter from the sun and enough water I could have patiently 
* Cur camp had been shifted further into the wood. 



232 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



waited for the end — whether death, to which I had been con- 
demned, jDr liberation. My sufferings from thirst were intense : 
my lips were cracked, and my tongue as dry and leathery a 
one in typhus fever ; and, to make the cruelty the wor^ 
spring ran close to us. All day long, whenever an oft. 
passed, a feeble cry of " Agua, serior, por el amor de Dios, v 
poco de agua ! " (A little water, sir, for God's sake f) came n 
humble, supplicating tones from the parched throats around 
me. At the word, the sleepers, who, as I often did, were 
dreaming of cool streams and dripping fountains, would start 
up eagerly, thinking the time for the water-jar to go round 
had come, and then with a groan sink on the ground again 
in bitter disappointment. Yet five minutes of time, and but 
trifling labour, would have given us the boon we begged so 
vainly. 

I remained there four days : and one afternoon, as I was 
viewing the shocking spectacle of a prisoner being tortured in 
our midst, a guard came and. took Mr. Bliss and myself away 
with them, I fully expected, to be shot, but it was to rejoin 
our late companions. They were located in a rocky cleft in 
the hills, far from the others. I found there Leite-Pereira, 
Captain Fidanza, Berges, Don Benigno, and Don Yenancio 
Lopez — the latter a colonel and the President's eldest brother, — 
Benitez, and Carreras, each in a hovel apart. We were placed 
with them, with some boughs of trees as a temporary shelter, 
and, better than all, the sergeant brought me a large gourd full 
of clear cold water ; but we had scarcely rested when the order 
came to march once more. Without a thought of complaint, I 
got up from the ground, tied a leather thong to the bar of my 
fetters, and set out. We walked in line about half a mile, then 
were halted, and by a mounted officer, who arrived at that 
moment, sent back again to the huts. After a delay of ten 
minutes we started once more, at, I should think, five o'clock 
in the evening. Our way was for some distance by a narrow 
deep path over the sandy hills, so narrow that my grillos were 
often fixed across it, and it was difficult to free them without 



MARCH TO PIKYSYM. 



2S8 



falling in the effort to extricate myself. We marched or shuffled 
slowly in single file, with a soldier between every two prisoners, 
and the colonel at our head. He walked with an angry, im- 
patient expression of face, frequently looking back at his brother, 
who, heavily ironed, could move but slowly. In front of me 
was Carreras, also fettered,, and so feeble that he threw himself 
on the ground in utter exhaustion whenever we stopped to rest. 
The guns of the enemy were thundering away quite close to us, 
and I several times heard the sharp report of exploding shells ; 
in fact,, the sudden advance of the Brazilians had caused our 
removaL How delighted we should have been had they ap- 
peared in front of us 1 although I have little doubt that such an 
event would have led to our instant execution ; indeed, I have 
since learnt that it was a favourite trick of Lopez's to send a 
group of prisoners, against whom nothing had been proved, to 
the front, and then express his regret that an unexpected move- 
ment of the Allies had compelled him to order them to be shot, 

. revent them falling into their hands. Several prominent 

i were murdered in this way. 

After journeying about two hours we joined the great body of 
the prisoners, extending in a vast crowd over the dusty plains. 
"Here comes another drove of beasts 1 " shouted the soldiers, 
as we- came up ; and, in fact, most of the captives looked 
scarcely human. It is said they were then six hundred in num- 
ber ; but I think there must have been very many, perhaps twice 
as many, more. Men, women, and children, in three divisions, 
were hemmed in by soldiers on foot and on horseback, fully 
armed and with sticks in their hands, with which they thrashed 
those outside and those that fell from exhaustion ; whilst the 
officers, with drawn swords, rode amongst them, dealing out 
blows right and left in wanton cruelty. The spectacle was 
rather one which Dante might imagine as a scene in the lower 
Inferno than an episode of modern times, and witnessed by me, 
a living man. 

When first caught sight of we were on a hill, they in the 
plain beneath ; little could be seen clearly ; there was a dense 



234 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



cloud of dust, and a heaving tumultuous throng, swaying from 
side to side, and slowly creeping towards the hills in the dis- 
tance. The red rays of the setting sun flashed now and then 
from whirling sword blades within it, and more constantly from 
the line of bayonets without ; small groups were detached in 
the rear, from which the horrible din, in the distance a confused 
roar, swelled loudest; heavy blows, dull thuds, or quick incisive 
lashes resounded on all sides, with an incessant clanking of 
fetters, groans, shouts, cries, and curses ; it reminded me of the 
close of a battle, when there were but the helpless fugitives to 
slaughter. The savage passions of our own guards seemed to 
be aroused by the sight : they urged us on faster, no longer 
allowing us to rest, and poor Carreras was beaten several times 
with the flat of the sword for falling as he staggered along. 

Mrs. Lynch passed soon after, in a carriage and pair ; she 
bowed with a gracious smile ; we took off our caps to her, all 
well knowdng that a word from her could send us to the scaffold, 
or worse on the morrow. I have since learnt that she took 
every opportunity of talking about the conspiracy, and abusing 
Mr. Washburn and his friends to Lopez, incessantly harping 
upon his generosity as a ruler, and their base ingratitude. 
" Oh, how your Excellency has sacrificed yourself for the sake 
of your country ! " she would say to the fat, drunken sensualist 
after dinner; " and these wicked men have conspired against 
you! Es muy triste, seiior — Oh, very sad indeed!" Not, I 
believe, from any desire to destroy us, but simply for her own 
safety's sake. She could be sure that a man who had impri- 
soned his brothers, flogged his sisters, shot their husbands, and 
threatened his mother, would scarcely respect any other tie. 

Before night the crowd being entangled in a narrow defile, 
we overtook it, and the scene was horrible beyond description. 
The poor fellows had not rested as we had done on the way, 
and were more exhausted by starvation, and fell at every step ; 
crowded together, they were half choked by heat and dust, and 
their bleeding limbs showed how fearfully they had been goaded 
on their w r ay. Close to me I saw a tall, thin old man, a well- 



PIKYSYRI. 



235 



dressed foreigner, stumble and fall ; in a few moments he was 
stripped, and two corporals were thrashing him mercilessly ; he 
staggered to his feet, and blindly hurried forward as fast as his 
fetters would permit, and again fell ; the same dreadful scene 
was repeated, and an officer, after striking him several times 
with a sword, stamped on his head till his white hair was dab- 
bled in blood. An empty bullock-cart passed at this moment ; 
he was taken up insensible, and thrown like a log into it. I 
prayed then, I hope still, that consciousness never returned to 
him. 

I met with but one mishap — falling into a hole, and only 
received a few blows, to encourage me, as I scrambled out. 
When we reached the open country once more we turned from 
the road, and in almost total darkness made our way through 
the dried-up marshes. The ground was covered with hummocks 
of tall coarse grass as thick as reeds, with a narrow tortuous 
path between. The natives found their way easily enough, for 
they have a most cat-like clearness of vision at night, but we 
foreigners got on very badly ; the hummocks were too high to 
step over, even if we had been unfettered, and too dense to 
force one's way through. I kept close to the soldier in front of 
me, and did pretty well ; but Carreras, with his usual ill luck, 
stumbled through or over the mounds every minute, and cut his 
face and hands badly, till at last the officer, tired of thrashing 
him, told two of the men to seize his arms, and they dragged 
him by main force for the rest of the way. How long we were 
scrambling through it I cannot tell, nor how far we travelled — 
not more than four miles, I should think ; but it was late at 
night ere we halted. I was completely worn out, and almost 
breathless with the exertion I had made ; water was, however, 
near at hand — we each took a deep draught ; stakes were driven 
into the ground, the hide ropes stretched, and we were secured 
as usual, but before they had finished tying me down I was 
sound asleer. 

I thought we should have continued our journey on the mor- 
row, imagining that the cordillera of Paraguari, which we saw 



236 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



in the purple distance, was our destination ; but this was to be 
my last encamping ground, and the grave of all, save two, of 
my companions. 

We were in a district called Pikysyri, close to< the spot where 
Lopez was routed thcee months afterwards.. It was, as I have 
said, a dried-up estero, not a very pleasant place, as the heavv 
rains, we might expect soon, would speedily convert the whole 
into a swamp again. The next day the wind changed to the 
south, and we had a furious 4 'pampero," which smothered us 
in dust, and made us shiver with cold, and at night the rain 
came down in torrents-. I lay awake, for my ankles were badly 
cut, and had swollen to such an extent that the fetters hurt me 
too much for rest. I was under the lee of a tall hummock, and 
protected from the cutting wind, but was, of course, soon wet 
through. It was a wretched sensation to lie on the ground 
firmly tied — I could only half turn over under ordinary circum- 
stances, but now the pain' was too great to think of moving my 
tumid ankles — and feel the rain beating down, and, worse than 
all, the cold water slowly stealing higher and higher up my 
back, and to know that it had to be endured for fourteen hours 
in that one position, and perhaps as many more, huddled under 
a saturated blanket. Every afternoon at four o'clock those de- 
testable hide ropes were sent to the pit, from which our drinking 
water was drawn, to be soaked, in order to make them tolerably 
pliable ; then one end was tied to a stake firmly driven into the 
ground, and, a series of loops being formed, the ankles of those 
not in irons were slipped through them and firmly secured by a 
knot above the loop, and drawn tight by the whole force of two 
men. If the knot should slip, a^ ! t often did, the pain it occa- 
sioned was excruciating. Those its irons were better off at 
night, for the rope was fastened arouni the ends of the bar, and 
they could turn from side to side. In addition to this precau- 
tion, which one would have thought sufficient, the sentries were 
doubled at sunset. 

In two or three days they had built us kennels of the old 
pattern, not high enough to sit in ; but as I got nearly half as 



\ 



PIKYSYRI. 



287 



much as I could have eaten, had shelter from the sun, but not 
from the rain, which came through as through a sieve, could I 
only have escaped fresh examinations, I should have looked 
upon myself, all things considered, as a very lucky fellow ; and, 
in fact, they did leave me to myself for so long that I began to 
hope that I was forgotten. My companions were less fortunate ; 
every day, and sometimes twice or thrice a day, were they 
marched off beyond a grove of orange trees (the very name of 
that tree has become hateful to me, and I have not tasted one of 
the fruit since I left Paraguay : whenever I see it a smell as of 
blood fills my nostrils), and did not return for hours, and then 
looking jaded and more sorrowful than ever. 

On the 23rd of September Don Benigno Lopez was put to 
the torture ; he had been taken away early in the morning, and 
did not return till after noon, when he shuffled slowly into his 
hut, which nearly faced mine, and shortly afterwards an officer, 
with three men carrying the well-remembered bundle of muskets 
and cords, came up. Don Benigno turned pale, and rose trem- 
blingly as they came near him, thinking probably of his brother- 
in law, Don Saturnino Bedoya, who died under its infliction 
some months before, and followed them, at a signal from the 
officer, behind a copse of trees near at hand. About an hour 
passed away, several officers, including Major Aveiro, went to 
Fee him, and at length he was led back, unable to stand, and 
with his face frightfully distorted by the agony he had suffered. 

I lay awake all that night, wondering what could have been 
their motive, when he had already made such a full confession, 
and thinking that perhaps I should have to undergo that terrible 
ordeal again. To my horror, the next afternoon I was sent for 
by Father Roman. I found him installed in a comfortable 
rancho behind the orange trees ; he was writing as I entered, 
and as for some time he went on with it, taking no apparent 
notice of me, I had an opportunity of studying his appearance 
at leisure, and I am not likely to forget it. He was, as an army 1 
chaplain, dressed in lieutenant's uniform, and wore a sword ; all 
that pointed out his clerical character being a small red cross on 



238 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAKAGUAY. 



his left breast, and the little stubbly tonsure on his crown. He 
would have made an admirable study for Torquemada. A stout, 
handsome figure and of commanding height, but with a cruel, 
sensual face, and a merciless, thin-lipped mouth. 

At length he pushed his papers from him, and stared at me as 
I stood holding up my fetters with one hand and my hat in the 
other. " Well, how do you feel ?" said he. 44 1 am ill and weak." 
" Bah ! It is your conscience which troubles you. Confess 
your crimes, confess what that beast Washburn did. Look," said 
he, pointing to a group of soldiers outside ; " I have the tiru- 
guayana ready for you, and you will be shot afterwards." I 
told him I had nothing new to confess, he could not extort any- 
thing more. " Well," said he, "I give you one more chance ; tell 
me now all you have told, and then make an end of the story." 
I went over it, dwelling especially upon my quarrels with Mr. 
Washburn, and the consequent improbability that I could know 
much of his secrets, and pleading that never imagining the plot 
would be discovered I had not noted, nor tried to remember, 
any particulars concerning it. (i But you must have had many 
conversations with him on the subject." " Scarcely any; he 
did not trust me ; and guilty men do not like to speak of their 
evil deeds." He saw that I was only fencing with him, and got 
out of all patience, and told me that Bliss, who, it seems, was 
confessing and denouncing vigorously, had already filled many 
sheets of closely written foolscap with his revelations, and that 
if I did not imitate him, the potro (the rack) should make me 
regret my obstinate reticence. 

Whilst he was talking, another native, habited like himself, 
came in ; a fine, tall, soldierly looking fellow, about thirty years 
of age, with an extremely good head and handsome features. 
I did not notice the little red cross, and had no idea at the time 
that he was a priest. He sat watchirg me without speaking 
till Koman had concluded, and then said, " Why, Masterman" 
(as the natives always accented my name), "your hair is quite 
grey although you are much younger than I ; how is that?" 
" Senor," I replied, "I was eleven months in prison; it is 



FATHER MAIZ. 



239 



not my age which makes me grey." "Eleven months! that 
is a trine; I was a prisoner more than three years." "In- 
deed! I am sorry for you; what is your name?" Or, 
in the formal Spanish, " What is the grace of your wor- 
ship ?" He laughed, and said he would not tell me then; but 
later I found to my surprise that he was ' ' the terrible Father 
Maiz" of Carreras. I had expected to see a very different man. 

They consulted together in an undertone for sometime, and then 
Padre Maiz went to a hut a little way off, and soon returned, 
bringing Mr. Bliss with him. I had not till then pictured to 
myself how miserable my own appearance must have been ; but 
the most abject wretch I had ever imagined was exceeded in the 
reality by him as he approached ; any manliness he had ever 
possessed seemed to have been completely crushed out of him ; 
and, dirty and famished, ragged and untrimmed as I was, I 
shrank from contact with him. 

I was directed to tell him what I had confessed. I did so, 
and he fully confirmed all I had said about my differences with 
Mr. Washburn, and then — as he told me afterwards, to let me 
know how I could best please my interrogators — went on to tell 
some scandalous stories of the minister. I hastily interrupted 
him, and begged the fiscales not to go into such matters. They 
told me to make myself easy, that they were fully known, and 
had been placed upon record by Bliss and other witnesses. 

When he had gone, Father Roman settled himself luxuriously • 
in his chair, and, with eager eyes and pendent lip, prepared to 
listen to the tales he had heard, and yet of which he would have 
enjoyed the repetition so much. I had infinite pleasure in dis- 
appointing him, and with passionate earnestness urged reasons 
touching his national pride so closely, and especially appealed so 
successfully to that of Father Maiz, that they let me go, and I 
returned with a thankful heart to my wretched hut in the ester v. 

As soon as I reached Pikysyri I had made myself a calendar 
with rings of grass, adding one link to the brittle chain every 
morning, and a larger one on Sundays, I had previously kept 
mental count of the day of the month and week, but I found I 



240 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



was forgetting ; so I asked a good-natured sergeant one day to 
adjust my reckoning, and then commenced my mensual chains, 
which took the place of the short and long scratches with which 
I used to record the flight of time on the walls of my former 
dungeon. 

On the 27th of September a guard, with fixed bayonets, led 
off Dr. Carreras and Don Gumisindo Benitez to the little copse 
where Don Benigno had been taken four days before ; a couple 
of priests and some men with spades went with them. I prayed 
that they might soon be despatched, and their sorrows be ended, 
but I now know that a more terrible fate was in store for them ; 
they were inhumanly tortured for a long time before their execu- 
tion. I waited with feverish anxiety for the end ; but it was 
late ere a volley of musquetry and a thin cloud of smoke rising 
over the bushes told that all was over, and that " the wicked had 
ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest." 

Dr. Don Antonio de las Carreras was a man of capacity and 
attainments superior to the generality of his countrymen, of 
polished manners and extensive reading, a scholar and a gentle- 
man. For a time he had wielded immense power — it was said 
cruelly ; but the severity with which he put down the revolu- 
tion in Saltos was, I believe, justifiable ; in fact, the want of 
similar firmness has been the strongest incentive to revolt in his 
own and the neighbouring unhappy republics, and has made 
them the scenes of perpetual anarchy and bloodshed. He was 
foully murdered in the country where he had hoped to find a 
safe asylum, and by the very man who ought to have been his 
staunchest friend, in whose defence he had perilled his own life, 
and forfeited reputation, wealth, and position. 

Don Gumisindo Benitez was but an average Paraguayan, one 
who could make a sounding speech and write as he was bidden. 
He lost his life by over zeal : trying to encompass Mr. Wash- 
burn in the net of lies he was weaving, he fell blindly into the 
very pit to which he would have dragged him. Seeking by 
letter, and afterwards by a personal appeal, to induce him to 
avow his guiltiness of a crime which had never been committed, 



DEATH OF BENITEZ. 



telling him that he might thus extricate himself from his dan- 
gerous position by the certain destruction of the rest, he used 
the unfortunate phrase, " All is discovered ! you must confess," 
when Lopez had not discovered all he professed it was neces- 
sary he should know. He therefore came to the conclusion 
that Benitez must be himself a conspirator, since he spoke of a 
perfect knowledge which the fiscales disclaimed.* He was at 
once arrested and put to the torture, told the same story of 
falsehood and infamy about which he had written so glibly, and, 
after infinite suffering, died a shameful death. 

* This information was given me incidentally by Lieut. Levalle. The men - 
tion of this officer's name reminds me that he was a good illustration of the un- 
civilizable nature of the Indio-Spaniards. He had been sent to England when 
quite a youth, and to a school in Richmond (Dr. Kenny's)., where he remained 
for some years, and learnt to speak English pretty well, and French very much 
better, but he acquired little else ; especially I noticed that he had been 
quite unable to get over the arithmetical difficulties which beset his race, h3 
could not manage the simplest sum in compound multiplication. The great ad- 
vancement of England, the convenience of our homes, the comforts of our social 
life, our streets and buildings, seem to have made no impression on him. 

He was fond of talking with me, and I tried to learn what efTect European 
life had had upon him ; but a feeling of bitter resentment against his school- 
fellows who had teazed him at Richmond — and that I learnt more from the 
angry fire which burnt in his eyes and swarthy cheeks when he spoke of it, than 
from anything he said— seemed to be his chief reminiscence. 



16 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE NARRATIVE CONTINUED ATROCITIES OF LOPEZ MY RELEASE. 

The next day a great many prisoners were shot, close to where 
I was lying; they were principally native officers, the late occu- 
pants of the second guardia. All the afternoon the butchery 
went on ; some forty or fifty must have fallen. At one time the 
firing was so heavy that a sentry near me asked the sergeant if 
the " cambas " (the Brazilians) were upon them. " No," said 
he, carelessly; "they are only shooting presets" Day after 
day the same atrocities were committed. A clattering of irons 
would be heard in the distance, a ragged, wild-eyed wretch 
would shuffle by, and often did not return — why, a spluttering 
volley told. 

Sometimes, however, it was but a visit of greater or less 
duration to the rancho behind the orange trees. There one or 
other of my companions went every day ; lean, haggard Don 
Jose Berges and Don Benigno most frequently. One day I saw 
the former kneeling in the mud at the feet of Major Caminos ; a 
drizzling rain was falling, and there was the ex-minister, who 
had held that post for more than twelve years, and had been 
sent on a special mission to England and the United States — in 
his feeble old age, his thin grey hair falling wet and tangled on 
his shoulders, with clasped and trembling hands imploring 
mercy from a brutal soldier, who but two years before would 
have crouched bareheaded in his presence. But Lopez hated 
and, I think, feared him ; for when his own election was talked 
of, the people whispered, and in no very cautious tones, that 
Don Jose would be the man of their choice, if they could but 



VILLETA. 



243 



have one ; and lie was "watched and suspected from the very 
beginning of the war. 

The month of September passed away, and the succeeding 
one, with little change. The weather became hotter ; but I no 
longer suffered from thirst ; for a kind-hearted comandante had 
given me a cantarilh, a little two-necked earthen bottle, holding 
about a quart, which was filled every morning ; and my greatest 
daily anxiety was lest it should be broken when sent to be re- 
charged from the skin of muddy water brought for our use. I 
used to keep a number of pieces of charcoal in it, which im- 
proved its flavour wonderfully ; I saved them from the live 
coals they brought me to light my cigars ; for I then enjoyed the 
rare luxury of smoking. One evening an officer came round with 
a number of little boxes, containing gifts from Madame Lynch, 
to be divided amongst those mentioned in a list he held in his 
hand, from which I learnt, by the way, that Major Manlove was 
still living. I received some cigars, sugar, yerba, and a bottle of 
rum ; and, after living upon scanty meals of boiled meat, often 
without salt, for two months, it may be imagined with what 
satisfaction I discussed them. I had often watched with hungry 
envy the many " encomiendas " (gifts of eatables, etc.) the two 
brothers of the President received, and longed to share them, 
especially the bread, which arrived new nearly every morning 
from their mother's house ; only a man who has lived on meat 
alone for weeks, and very little of that, can- know how delicious 
bread or biscuit is. 

My examinations were resumed at intervals ; sometimes I was 
sent for in the middle of the night, or at early dawn, and kept 
for eight or ten hours under interrogation. I often wonder now 
how I managed to talk so much and tell so little, and am not 
at all surprised that Father Eoman was always threatening to 
shoot me or send me to the potro — his patience was tried to the 
uttermost. But I believe that I had a secret friend, in Father 
Maiz ; he was always eager for information, and used to have 
long conversations with me on subjects as far as possible 
removed from the conspiracy, to the great disgust of his 



244 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

irascible colleague. I also offered to make a minute plan of 
the Legation from memory, and intentionally spoilt two I drew; 
but Roman punished me for that, by keeping me up the whole 
of one night to replace them ; my object being to escape the 
searching cross-examinations I dreaded, for one single slip 
would have been fatal to me, by proving that I was not so 
guilty as I pretended to be. One day I hesitated at calling 
myself reo confesado (a confessed criminal) ; Roman pounced 
upon me instantly. " What ! are not you a criminal? Must 
I send you to the rack to confess over again ? That beast 
(Washburn) is not a conspirator either, I suppose?" I pro- 
tested that he had mistaken me, that I was the guiltiest of men. 
"Ah," rejoined he, " you will find that out when you are sent 
to be shot." Which was consolatory. 

One afternoon I saw them about to put a foreigner in the 
uruguayana* I only saw his face for a moment; he was deathly 
pale, and was holding out his hands as if praying for mercy. 
I have not been able to ascertain who it was, but I am certain 
it was not a Paraguayan. 

Just in the rear of my hut the two sisters of Lopez, Doiia 
Inocencia de Barrios and Doiia Rafaela de Bedoya, were im- 
prisoned, each in a covered bullock-cart, or earreta, about seven 
feet long, four wide, and five high. They remained, poor ladies, 
shut up in these moveable prisons for more than five months ; 
I often saw them wheeled past on their way to the fiscales : the 
front and the windows had been blocked up, and the door 
behind was secured with a padlock ; but an opening had been 
made. in front, about six inches high, through which I suppose 
their food, etc., would be handed into them. Many times I 
heard young children crying there, but I do not know if they 
were theirs. The sufferings they endured almost exceed belief. 
About December, 1867, their husbands incurred the displeasure 
of Lopez, it is said, because the speeches they made on the 
occasion of the presentation of the sword of honour were not 
sufficiently " patriotic," and they were detained, and their 
families ordered down to San Fernando. Early in the succeed- 



THE SISTEKS OF LOPEZ. 



245 



ing year they were put under arrest. Don Saturnino Bedoya 
was at first charged with having robbed the Treasury (he was 
Tesorero- General), and afterwards with complicity in the pre- 
tended plot ; he protested his innocence, but was put to the 
torture, which was applied so severely that they dislocated his 
spine, and he died in intense agony. General Barrios, in order 
to escape so terrible a fate, tried to commit suicide by cutting 
his throat, but the wound, although deep,. was not sufficiently 
so to prove fatal ; it was dressed, and the day afterwards he 
was shot. His wife and her sister were taken from their prison, 
and they were compelled to witness his execution. They, very 
naturally, poor women, in their grief and despair, expressed 
their detestation of the barbarous and unnatural cruelty of 
their ferocious brother ; this was reported to him, and he 
ordered them to be flogged, in a manner outraging decency and 
all feelings of humanity, which was at once carried out. Not 
content with this, he sent them back to their prisons, and forced 
them by threats of worse treatment to depose falsely against 
their murdered husbands \ and in December, 1868, he com- 
pelled his mother to leave her house at La Trinidad, where she 
had remained virtually a prisoner for nearly two years, and go 
to Luque, the temporary capital,, and there, before- the altar of 
the church, swear that she recognized Francisco Solano alone 
as her child, and cursed the rest as rebels and traitors* She 
piteously pleaded her advanced age (she is over seventy) and 
disease of the heart as excuses for not complying ; but the 
officer charged to see that her son's orders were carried out 
told her she must obey or die, and she went. I think the 
whole sad history of human crime cannot show one record 
exceeding this in heartless cruelty. A widowed mother, who 
had seen her youngest son and her two sons-in-law executed as 
criminals ; of her remaining sons, one a prisoner, and the other 
loathed and cursed by thousands as a very fiend incarnate ; her 
daughters outraged and caged like wild beasts ; and she, in her 
helpless old age-,, compelled, on pahx of death to mumble impre- 
cations on the dead and living of those dearest to her, and at 



246 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



the command, too, of her eldest born, the child she had once so 
tenderly nourished. Better that she had died then, but better, 
a thousand times, that he had never been born. 

About the middle of November the chancellor of the French 
consulate, Mons. de Libertad, arrived in Pikysyry. Before I 
was arrested the consul told me that he had been charged as an 
accomplice ; but I scarcely thought that Lopez would have 
ventured on such a step, but the fact that he did so proved how 
re3kless he had become. He looked weary and frightened when 
he arrived at the encampment, and ate scarcely anything for 
several days. He was put in the hut next to mine, was not in 
irons, but was tied in the stocks ( cepo de lazo ) every night like 
the rest of us ; the two brothers of Lopez alone escaped this. 
He was examined several times, and at great length, always 
returning with the haggard look of a man who had been almost 
harassed to death. He had been very intimate with Don Be- 
nigno, and from that and his official position his evidence was 
regarded as of great value, as a means of blinding the people 
of Paraguay and the outside world to the utter lawlessness of 
these proceedings. But they got, I believe, very little out of 
him, until at last Mr. Bliss (who by this time had become a 
great pet of Father Boman's) was sent for to tell him what he 
should say. Mons. de Libertad naturally revolted from the 
idea of telling such baseless lies, and at last, in sheer despera- 
tion, said, " Tell me what you want me to depose, and I will 
say it." Mr. Bliss is my informant, and he told me with great 
glee of the wretched falsehoods he made him swear to at last ; 
of the meetings the conspirators had had in the house of Don 
Jose Berges, their plans, the very documents they drew up, and 
the names of the committee, of which Bliss himself was secre- 
tary! I believe I am right in saying that the latter had not 
even entered the house of Don Jose, and, of course, the minister 
had never condescended to any intimacy with such a man. How- 
ever, Mons. de Libertad was more fortunate than the rest of us ; 
for the French minister in Buenos Ayres sent up a gunboat to 
look after the consul as soon as Mr. Washburn notified him of 



MY FIRST WORK. 



247 



the dangerous position in which he was placed ; and on its 
arrival M. de Libertad was sent on board as a prisoner. I am 
informed that he has since been dismissed from the diplomatic 
service ; not, however, because it was believed that a con- 
spiracy existed in which he had taken part, but because he had 
not supported in a becoming manner the dignity of his office. 
He used, I know, to talk very imprudently with Don Benigno 
of the sufferings of the people, and the uselessness, indeed, folly, 
of continuing a hopeless struggle ; but as to these complaints, 
opinions, and lamentations taking the form of a conspiracy, I do 
not believe it for a moment. I was never intimate with him, 
nor with Don Benigno, but I was with several of the others, 
said to be their accomplices ; and I am perfectly sure that if any- 
thing of the kind had been set on foot I should have known of 
it. The admission of Carreras, however, is conclusive on this 
point ; and the earnestness with which he whispered the words, 
" Lies, all lies, from beginning to end," carried full conviction 
with them. I cannot doubt their perfect innocence. 

One day, about this time, the fiscales sent for me, and Father 
Roman favoured me with a long exhortation, to the effect that I 
ought not to feel the slightest gratitude to Mr. Washburn for 
obtaining my release in 1867, and that no motives of friend- 
ship should deter me from telling all the truth about him, 
and so on. He continued for some time in this strain, and then 
informed me that Mr. Bliss was writing a history of the con- 
spiracy, and asked me if I would do the same. Of course I said 
yes ; and he told me that if my performance were satisfactory, 
perhaps my life would be spared ; for although they believed 
my statement that I had not joined the conspiracy, still the 
knowledge of its existence, which I had " confessed," was itself 
punishable by death, and I had, as I knew, been left for exe- 
cution. 

Under these inspiriting influences I commenced writing my 
first work. My hut was raised and enlarged to enable me to 
sit upon the ground, and I was furnished with a box as a table ; 
two sheets of paper at a time, an ink bottle and a pen, which 



248 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



were all taken away before sunset, lest I should attempt any 
surreptitious writing. I set to work with pleasure ; for I hoped 
to put into the mouth of Mr. Washburn opinions and remarks 
I dared not write as from myself, and thus open the eyes of the 
people to the true state of affairs ; but at the same time I deter- 
mined to say nothing about the plot. I commenced with a 
description, in a few words, of the prosperity and happiness of 
the country when I first reached it ; then I repeated many con- 
versations I had ha4 with Washburn, in which he spoke of 
Lopez as a cruel, avaricious tyrant, and an incompetent general ; 
of the folly and hopelessness- of. struggling against the Allies, 
whose strength and resources I exaggerated ; the certainty that 
the Government of the United States would resent the insult 
offered to Mr. Washburn, and the immense power he would 
wield as soon as he reached Washington., In order to conceal 
my real object, the whole was interspersed with ridicule of him 
and his friends the " macacos " and " cambas " (the baboons 
and " niggers " of Brazil), and laudation so fulsome of Lopez, 
that he would indeed be a blind man who did not see through it 
directly. I did not say one word about the plot ; but a para- 
graph^ a few lines only, .was inserted by Father Roman, stating 
that Washburn was the chief of the conspirators, and that I had 
been invited to join them by Carreras. The whole formed a 
pamphlet of about a dozen octavo pages.* 

They were very dissatisfied with my performance, and told 
me that I had shown so little zeal that I should probably be shot 
after all ; and no wonder, when it was compared with that of 
Mr. Bliss, who actually wrote a book of 323 pages, a copy of 
which is now lying before me, in a double sense. It contains a 
pretended life of Mr. Washburn, who is accused of every species 
of rascality, from stealing spoons at school, to an intention to 
assassinate Lopez himself ; with a full account of the plot, the 
plans of the conspirators, and the form of government they 
intended to introduce. Mons. Laurent-Cochelet, the late French 

* I believe, however, it was not grintecL.for. Thave never heard of a copy of 
it having been seem. 



COLONEL ALEN. 



249 



consul, a man most highly and deservedly respected, figures as 
one of their agents, and the evidence against the rest of the 
" traitors " is completed in every respect. I had wondered why 
my companions were so frequently sent for by the fiscales ; but 
I. found afterwards that they were re-examined, and forced to 
swear to*the truth of all the stories forged by him. I had a narrow 
escape myself ; one day I was sent for in a great hurry, and told 
that I had once attended a meeting, in the house of Bliss, of a 
revolutionary committee, and I was required to state what had 
occurred, on that occasion. The names of those present were 
read over ; but nearly all were strange to me, and I could swear 
most positively that I had never met them, and knew nothing 
about them. Fortunately for me, Captain Falcon was the 
examiner, and he was convinced by my earnestness that I was 
speaking the truth had it been Roman,. I should have been put 
to the torture without doubt. 

I had been a prisoner about eleven weeks when, early one 
mornings the colonel was removed to a better hut, and his place 
was occupied by the most deplorable object I had ever seen in 
human shape ; two soldiers came staggering, along, bearing in a 
hide suspended from a bamboo a man, nearly naked, and with 
his head resting on his knees ; I should ha-ve thought him dead 
but for the groan he uttered as they threw their burden on the 
ground. I saw his haggard face for a moment as they dragged 
him along to the hut, but did not recognize him ; his huge joints 
showed that he had once been a tall, stout man y but he was now 
so emaciated that the sharp bony ridges seemed cutting through 
the skin, and he remained doubled up as when I first caught 
sight of him ; yet, helpless cripple as he was, he wore double 
irons. During the siesta a good-natured sergeant, who often 
came to speak to me when the officer was asleep, crept into my 
hut, and I asked him who the new arrival was. " Col. Alen," 
said he ; " poor fellow, they have so crushed him in the Uru- 
guay ana that he will never stand again." This officer had been 
private secretary to Lopez before the war, and afterwards had 
command at Humaita. He was then a fine, handsome fellow, 



250 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PARAGUAY. 



with frank and jovial manners ; and I well remember seeing 
him one day leading a band of music, accompanied by a crowd 
of dancing women, around the camp, and bringing them up to 
" saludar" Dr. Rhind and myself, and making a speech in our 
honour. He was accused of treason after the fall of Humaita, 
arrested, flogged, tortured most inhumanly, and afterwards 
shot. 

Later, a scheme for justifying their treatment of me was 
arranged by the fiscales. They stated that I had never been 
pardoned for my former offence, and I had only been condition- 
ally liberated. I might attend Mrs. Washburn ; but I could not 
practise medicine ; I had, however, done so, and gone to La 
Trinidad without leave, therefore I had been again arrested. 
They told me that Mr. Washburn had 'lied to me in saying that 
the Vice-President had ordered the pickets to let me pass. (I 
not only know that the permission was given, but also that Col. 
Don Venancio Lopez, the President's brother, himself came to 
tell Mr. Washburn that I could go whenever I pleased !) I was 
glad to hear this story ; for it proved that some stir was being 
made about me ; and, in truth, the news that an American gun- 
boat was on its way had set their ingenuity to work. 

On the morning of the 3rd of December I was sent for, and 
found Father Maiz seated alone under a tree ; the soldiers who 
guarded me were sent to a little distance, and he gave me a long 
lecture on the subject of consistency, that I must always tell 
the same story as that which I had told them, in all places and 
under all circumstances, and that it was my duty to denounce 
Mr. Washburn as a conspirator all over the world. I could 
scarcely conceal my joy, for I knew that help had come ; but I 
replied, submissively, that what was written was written ; that 
which I had said I could never unsay. He smiled approvingly ; 
for anything in the shape of an aphorism delighted him greatly. 
He went on to tell me that a new minister had arrived from the 
United States, and that the President had commuted my sentence 
of death to banishment for life, and he trusted that I would em- 
ploy the rest of my days in praising the clemency of the Marshal, 



GOOD NEWS. 



251 



and denouncing the wickedness of Washburn. I promised that 
I would make the truth fully known : and now I am fulfilling 
that promise. A blacksmith was called, the rivets were cut off, 
and my irons fell clanking to the ground ; but even then I 
could scarcely believe in my good fortune. I had so long lived 
in hourly expectation of death, that I could not be sure that 
Padre Maiz was not mocking me when he said that in a few 
days I should leave the country. However, I thanked him un- 
affectedly for the kindness he had shown me, and for the good 
news he gave me ; but he said that my thanks were due to the 
President, and that I ought to write a letter to his Excellency, 
expressing my gratitude. I excused myself, saying that he 
could express it verbally so much better than I could in my 
imperfect Spanish ; so I would leave it in his hands. A smile 
flitted across his grave face as he told me I could return to my 
hut ; I suspect he had made a shrewd guess as to what was 
passing in my mind at the moment. 

It was with a strange sense of relief and exultation I walked 
quickly back to the guarclia ; as I passed my companions in mis- 
fortune, they turned towards me weary, listless faces, mutely 
asking what the change might mean ; for themselves, they had 
lost all hope, and death was the only release they looked for ; 
and for all, save two of them, it came within a fortnight of that 
day. 

In the evening an officer brought me some tea, biscuit, and 
cigars, and, better than all, some coarse but clean linen. Two 
days afterwards I was again ordered to go to the hut of the 
judges. On my way I me-t Father Maiz, who repeated the sub- 
stance of what he had told me before, and reminded me that 
my life depended on my discretion. He told me, also, that two 
American officers were then waiting to hear me declare that my 
written statements were true, and that I must satisfy them that 
su6h was the case. I bitterly felt the false position in which I 
wajs placed, but I never for a moment doubted that they were 
aware of my innocence, and would therefore take all I said at 
its true value. 



252 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



As I neared their quarters I saw at a glance that some pains 
had been taken to improve the outward state of affairs. The 
old crumbling rancho had been furbished up, the ground 
around it neatly swept, not a trace was to be seen, of chains or 
thongs, and the sandy soil showed no evidence of the blood 
which had been spilt around it ; whilst the grove of orange 
trees, and the thick undergrowth, beneath them, did not allow a 
glimpse of the prisoners to be seen. Near the door was a table, 
with a bottle of rum and some glasses ; beside it stood Lieu- 
tenant Eirkland, and within the cottage sat Captain Ramsay, 
both of the United States navy. 

As I approached, Mr. Bliss crept slowly out,, bowing pro- 
foundly, and smiling deprecatively to Father Maiz, who hastily 
told the soldiers to take him away; and Lean, almost excuse the 
treatment I received from his countrymen, when I recall his air 
and figure.* 

In passing Captain Ramsay I whispered to him, " I hoped to 
have been spared this, degradation ; but don't judge, me now." 
I dared not say more ; for Levalle and another Paraguayan, 
who also spoke French, and English, immediately followed me. 
Seated within the room. I found Father Roman,, another priest 
as secretary, and. Major Aveiro. My depositions were read 
over in Spanish, the two Americans- understanding, that language, 
and at the end of each sheet I was asked, " Estd conforme, y es 
esta la Jirma de usted?" (Is this correct, and is that, your signa- 
ture ?) I replied, of course, in the affirmative. Vfhen the one 
was read in which I was made to say that I was guilty, and 
that I knew that a conspiracy existed, Captain Ramsay asked 
me, with a perplexed air, " But is this really true ? " I hesi- 
tated, and for a moment was inclined to risk all, and say boldly, 
" No, utterly false ; " but, thinking that in a few hours I could 

* Lopez sent him a free pardon, and told him that, in consideration of his 
earnest repentance, and the zeal he had shown in atoning for his crimes, he 
might keep the 15,000 dollars which he swore he had received from the 
Brazilians, and transmitted to Buenos Ayres by the hands of Mr. Washburn; 
and he trusted, he added, he would make good use of the money ! We often 
hear of one being paid in his own coin, but we rarely see it done so literally. 



RELEASE. 



258 



set myself right, and that it would be the height of folly to 
peril my Kfe in mere bravado, I replied, in English, " I beg you 
will ask me no questions." " What does he say?" asked 
Father Roman, suspiciously, inGuarani; and Levalle translated 
my answer to him. He paused a few moments, and then, 
rising, requested the officers to take a glass of rum with him. 
They went out together, but he returned immediately, and 
asked, whilst an angry frown darkened his face, " Why do you 
not wish to be asked any questions ? " I told him that I was ill 
and weak — tally enough, and that I was anxious to return 
to my hut, which satisfied him, but at the same time shewed in 
what jeopardy a single incautious word of mine might place me. 

The two officers were on the most friendly terms with the 
Paraguayans, and intensely enjoyed their abuse of Mr. Wash- 
burn. They had breakfasted with Lopez and Madame Lynch, 
and seemed to have been fully persuaded that I was really as 
criminal as I appeared to be. The advocacy of the cause of 
Lopez by their late minister had excited such indignation in 
Buenos Ayres, that I can scarcely wonder that they were pre- 
pared to believe -any charges made against him, and if he were 
guilty of conspiracy, they would assume that I was also. 

I was sent back to my hut when they left, and passed a 
wretched night ; for the comandante, desirous that I should 
appreciate liberty when I obtained it, tied me so tightly with 
the leather thongs that I could not sleep for an instant through 
the pain they inflicted. Five days passed away. I came to the 
conclusion that I had been deceived, after all, and that my 
unwilling corroboration of the so-called depositions would be 
made a pretext for detaining me, and that, as an Englishman, I 
could not expect that, after I had been abandoned by my own 
Government, Americans would trouble themselves about me. 
But the delay was caused by Admiral Davis falling into the 
same unfortunate error as our own officers had done. Misled 
by his prejudices against Mr. Washburn, and allowing them to 
be strengthened by the specious cunning of Lopez and his mis- 
tress, he departed from his instructions, and tried diplomacy — 



254 SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 

without success ; the odds against him had decided before the 
game began ; so he consented to receive us as prisoners, that 
we should be so treated during the voyage, and that we should 
be sent to Washington for trial. Even this did not satisfy 
Lopez, or rather he dreaded the disclosures we should inevitably 
make, so he tried to keep us after all ; and it was only when the 
admiral threatened to fire on the batteries that he would let us 
go. Of course, I knew nothing about this till afterwards ; and 
every day seemed longer and more hopeless than the last ; but 
on the evening of the 10th of December, three months to a day 
after my arrest, I was sent for for the last time. I had been 
two hours in the cepo, and bound with such cruel severity that 
I could scarcely stand when they loosened the thongs. 

At the old place I was met by Father Maiz ; he shook me 
warmly by the hand, brought me out a chair, and, in a cautious 
tone, congratulated me on my escape. His colleague sat within 
the rancho, examining a pile of freshly-printed papers, and 
favoured me only with a jealous scowl as I passed ; I think he 
must have felt as a hungry spider would which had seen a fly 
escape, after being half entangled in his web. I joyfully divided 
the residue of my cigars and biscuit amongst the men who 
were guarding me, and begged the good-natured sergeant to let 
Colonel Alen have my water-jar; he was delighted also, and 
promised to give it to him. But I had still long to wait, for 
Lopez was unwilling that any of the troops should see us going 
away, and it was quite dark when we started ; and we were 
mounted on such wretched horses that it was past midnight ere 
we reached Angustura, where the gunboat was lying. 

The officer in command of our party was very anxious to enter 
into conversation with me, and his voice sounded strangely 
familiar, but it was so dark that I could not distinguish his fea- 
tures ; I found afterwards that he was Don Eduardo Aramburu, 
an old friend of mine. On the way I had ample proof how care- 
fully the approaches to the camp were guarded, and how im- 
possible escape would have been ; every ten minutes or so we 
were stopped in silence by levelled muskets ; sometimes there 

) 



RELEASE. 



255 



would be a dozen men, at others two or three only, lying down 
in the long grass, and so completely hidden that they seemed to 
spring from the earth at our horses' feet. The road over the 
swampy moorland was detestable, so that we could only move 
at a foot pace, every now and then we plunged into the reedy 
pools, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the starving 
brutes we were mounted on struggled through them. I was 
glad enough when at length we reached the batteries, and could 
see the bright light of the steamers reflected in trembling lines 
far up the river. We dismounted, Don Eduardo shook hands 
with me, and, as the bank was steep and slippery and I was too 
weak to walk more than a few paces, he lifted me in his strong 
arms into the canoe, whispering in my ear, " Oh, my friend, how 
I envy you ! " and soon the paddles, aided by the strong cur- 
rent, brought us alongside the " Wasp." 

I had expected the same warm welcome as I should have 
received on board an English vessel under the same circum- 
stances, but Kirkland, the commander, called the master-at-arms 
and said, " Take these men forward, and put a sentry over 
them." I was thunderstruck. Mr. Bliss was fawning, as usual, 
hat in hand ; I told him angrily to put it on, and said, " You 
surely will not send us forward ? Mr. Bliss is the son of a Bap- 
tist minister, and I have held the rank of lieutenant in Her 
Majesty's service, and here for several years. When you saw 
us last we were treated as criminals, I hope you do not consider 
us so." He replied, " I receive you as criminals and shall treat 
you as criminals till you are proved to.be innocent." Admiral 
Davis expressed to me afterwards his regret at the unworthy 
treatment I had received, which was, he assured me, contrary 
to his express orders ; and when I afterwards found that Kirk- 
land had treated Mrs. Washburn with the grossest rudeness in 
his own ship, only because he had quarrelled with her husband, 
I ceased to feel surprised at his brutality to me. 

I passed the greater part of the night comparing notes with 
Mr. Bliss, and was intensely disgusted with the statements he 
told me he had made ; I could have excused him readily enough 



256 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



for some of the things he had said, had he not exulted at the 
mischief he had done ; but he told me gleefully how he had 
completed the evidence in every particular against the prisoners 
who had not yet been executed, and was absolutely proud of the 
infamous part he had played. For the rest of the voyage I kept 
out of his way as much as possible. 

"We lay off Angustura for three clays for the purpose of land- 
ing General McMahon the new American Minister, and his 
baggage, and then steamed down the river. "We passed the 
ruins of Humaita on the afternoon of the 15th ; it had been 
crumbled almost to the earth; the only conspicuous object was 
a mound of rubbish crowned by the tottering remains of the 
twin towers, showing here and there traces of colour and orna- 
ment, which marked the site of the church. The quarters of 
Lopez had entirely disappeared, and the greater part of the low 
barrack sheds also ; as for the batteries, I tried in vain to find 
an embrasure or a parapet which would tell me where they had 
been. A little to the south of the old place cVarmes a mushroom 
village of suttlers' wooden huts had sprung up, reminding me 
strongly of the Crimea ; the shanties of wood and canvas were 
almost the same, and bore the well remembered signs, " Hotel 
de France " and " Cafe d' Alliance " painted in great sprawling 
letters across the front, or fluttering on the tattered flags above 
them. But the trim order in which Humaita had been kept 
under the old regime had been forgotten, and a dirtier or more 
disreputable-looking place it was impossible to imagine. The 
river was crowded with shipping ; I counted more than fifty ves- 
sels flying the Brazilian flag between Humaita and Tres Bocas. 

As soon as we anchored off Monte Video we were transferred 
to the flag- ship " Guerriere," and as I was still kept under sur- 
veillance, although not under arrest, I wrote, on the 26th of 
December, under flying seal, to Her Majesty's Charge d' Affaires 
there, describing the indignities to which I was exposed, and 
begging him to interfere. He replied that as I had, he understood, 
claimed the protection of the United States, he could not do so ; 
but he advised me to apply personally to Admiral Davis. 



NEW YORK. 



257 



I did so, and had a most satisfactory interview with him. He 
professed ignorance of the fact that I had been treated as a pri- 
soner on board his vessel, but said that he had promised Lopez 
that I should not be allowed to communicate with the shore in 
Brazilian waters ; he explained to me all he had done, and 
appeared not a little astonished at the information I gave him 
concerning affairs in Paraguay. I offered my parole, which he 
at once accepted ; he desired the officers to treat me as his 
guest, and all restrictions on my movements were removed. 

We lay off Monte Yideo for a week, and then left for Eio 
Janeiro. The day after our arrival there the British Minister, 
Mr. Buckley Mathew, came off; I was presented by the Ad- 
miral, and had long and interesting conversation with him ; he 
had heard of the treatment I received from Kirkland, and 
expected I should have complained of it to him, indeed he 
privately blamed me in that I had not done so ; but after the 
frank explanation and expressions of regret of the Admiral, and 
taking into consideration that he had saved my life, I felt it 
would be ungenerous to enter into the question, and therefore 
said nothing about it. 

On the 25th of January I was transferred to the " Mississippi " 
mail-steamer, and left for New York. On my way I had the 
pleasure of catching a glimpse — it was little more — of the 
scenery of the Amazon, for we went up as far as Marinon to 
embark a few passengers and some tons of India-rubber. We 
reached our destination without any incident worth notice ; and 
I at once reported my arrival to Mr. Seward, who replied as 
follows : — - 

Department of State. 

Washington, Feb. 2Uh, 1869. 

Sir, — 

I have received your letter of the 21st instant, reporting your 
arrival at New York, in obedience to the orders of Rear- Admiral 
Davis, South Atlantic Squadron. 

In reply I have to inform you that the Executive Government 
of the United States does not claim any jurisdiction over you on 
account of the orders referred to, especially as it is understood that 

17 



258 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



you are not only a British subject, but also an officer now, or lately 
were so, in the Paraguayan service. 

This Department, however, would be gratified to receive from 
you, in writing, or orally, any statement which you may think proper 
to make in regard to the interesting proceedings in Paraguay with 
which your name has recently been connected. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

(Signed) William H. Seward. 

To Mr. G. F. Masterman, 

Late Assistant- Surgeon, Paraguayan Service. 

I accordingly went on to Washington, had the pleasure of 
half-an-hour's conversation with Mr. Seward, and gave all the 
information which I imagined would interest him ; then return- 
ing to New York, I at once left for England. 

I may mention, by the way, that in the latter city I went 
through the curious process called " interviewing." A reporter 
from the Tribune called upon me, and politely begged that 
I would furnish him verbally with full particulars of my life in 
Paraguay. I felt strongly tempted to laugh several times during 
the interview, knowing the use which would be made of it, but 
a deep sense of how much I owed to the Americans kept my 
risible muscles in order. The next day three columns of the 
Tribune were devoted to a full report of my conversation, 
remarks, personal appearance, and so on. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 



ME. TAYLOR AND CAPTAIN SAGUIEE's NAEEATIVES. 

Theough the courtesy of Mr. Kussell Shaw, C.E., I am enabled 
to give the following narrative of the sufferings of one of my 
fellow-prisoners, written by that gentleman from the dictation of 
Alonzo Taylor himself, shortly after his release and arrival in 
Asuncion. He says : — 

" My name is Alonzo Taylor. I was born in Chelsea, and I 
am a stonemason and builder by trade. 

" In November, 1858, 1 made an engagement, through Messrs. 
Blyth, of Limehouse, to serve Lopez in Paraguay, for a period 
of three years, and teach the natives my business. 

"I am a married man, but I thought I would go alone, and see 
what the country was like. In 1861 my wife and my children 
came out to me, and we lived in a house near the Aduana. To 
our parlour I built a fireplace and a chimney, the first made in 
the country. 

"I got good pay and not too much to do, and the President (he 
was only General then) treated me very kindly, so I made a new 
contract soon after my wife came out, for four years more. 

" The war with Brazil and the Argentine Confederation com- 
menced in 1865 ; but it made little difference to me, except that 
the paper money was depreciated, and, therefore, we got less 
pay. So, when my contract was finished, I asked the Govern- 
ment to let me make a new one ; but they said at the Ministerio 



260 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



that they were too busy to attend to such matters, but that if 
we worked as usual we should be liberally treated. I heard no 
more of the matter till December, 1867, when Major Fernandez, 
the chief clerk in the War Office, told me that if we liked, we — 
that is, the Arsenal men — could make new engagements, and 
might state our wishes. 

* 4 About this time I returned to Asuncion from the interior, 
where I had been building furnaces for distilling sulphur, on a 
plan I arranged with Mr. Masterman for making powder. 

"Although I was disgusted, by this time, with the war, and the 
change in the country consequent thereon, still I did not see my 
way clear, or how I was to get my wife and children out of the 
country ; for Lopez never gave us the option of leaving : so I 
made a contract for another year. Many Englishmen in the 
employment of the Government refused to make fresh contracts, 
and I wish I had acted in the same manner. 

"During my stay in Paraguay I attended to the practical carry- 
ing on of many works, such as the mould-loft, the new foundry, 
and fixing machinery in the Arsenal ; railway stations and 
bridges, the new mole, and President Lopez's fine new palace. 
A grand palace it is — all of stone and solid brickwork, not of 
mud bricks, as they generally use there ; but he never occupied 
it, and I hope never will. I used also to draw the pay of some 
of my countrymen when they were away, and keep it for them; 
and I looked after the widows and poor little orphan children. 
We had plenty of them ; for many of our men drank themselves 
to death. 

" I say all this to explain why I went to Paraguay, and why 
I remained there ; and now I will tell of my sufferings during 
five months' cruel captivity. But being more accustomed to 
work with chisel and trowel, and with compass and drawing pen, 
I scarcely know how to describe in adequate language the horrors I 
have witnessed ; so I will confine myself to the exact truth as a 
plain man ; but I wish I could picture these scenes as some 
could do it, that their full agony and misery could be brought 
before the reader, and that he could fancy he heard, as I do even 



mr. taylor's narrative. 



261 



now, the shrieks and groans of the poor helpless creatures being 
tortured to death. 

" This was how it commenced. On the 21st of July, 1868, 
after working hard at the soap works at Luque, I returned to 
my house at ten o'clock at night. Shortly afterwards a cavalry 
soldier knocked, and told me through the door that I was ordered 
into the capital by the Minister of War and Marine, but he could 
not tell me why. But I knew that it was useless to resist ; so 
I mounted my horse, and went with the soldier, who, when we 
passed the Ministerio, told me that he had orders to conduct me 
to the captain of the port ; so we rode on to the river bank, 
where I found a crowd of men. I dismounted, and was imme- 
diately, despite my remonstrances, put in irons, and placed with 
eight or nine other prisoners until the morning, and then we 
were put on board the " Salto de Gruayra" steamer. Mrs. 
Lynch and her eldest son, Francisco, came on board with some 
officers about eleven, before we started down the river. As she 
left the steamer, Mrs. Lynch looked, but she took no apparent 
notice of me, although she used to be very kind to me, and my 
daughter was often in her house. I had asked an officer who 
was on board, and used to be very intimate with me, if he would 
let me speak to her ; but he said that being a prisoner I could 
speak to no one, much less to her. He abused me, and seemed 
to delight in my misfortune. 

" At this time President Lopez had his head-quarters on the 
Tebicuari, a large river which runs into the Paraguay. We got 
there about four o'clock in the morning, disembarked, and had 
to march to the camp, a distance of six miles, in irons, and it 
was then our sufferings commenced. Our party consisted of an 
old man named Sortera (he was very ill, and was not in irons, 
because he was unable to walk ; he was the father of the 2 do 
captain of the port) ; two Orientales, six Italians, a Corrientino, 
three Spaniards, one Paraguayan, and myself ; eleven in all. 
With the exception of two, all wore one set of irons, and some 
two — thick bars and rings, weighing from twenty to thirty 
pounds. A six-mile walk in Paraguay at any time would try a 



262 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



good pedestrian; but with heavy fetters on both ankles, in 
which one could only slowly shuffle along, it was dreadful work. 
Besides that, we had to carry two of our sick companions, old 
Sortera and an Italian. They were put in hammocks, and carried 
slung on a pole. We had a strong guard with us, and they accele- 
rated our march by an unsparing use of the point of the bayonet, 
and flogged those who lagged behind with thongs of raw hide. 

"Poor old Sortero got by far the worst of it, for he was almost 
imbecile ; and, in addition to constant complaints of his hard fate 
in being, at his advanced age, treated so cruelly, he used very 
bad language, and they thrashed him without mercy to keep 
him quiet. 

" That dreadful journey made a stronger impression on me 
than anything I suffered afterwards ; for it was all new to me, 
and I was in robust health. Afterwards, when I was reduced 
in health and strength, I became stolid and listless, and suffered 
much less, both morally and physically. 

"After hours of incessant toil we arrived at San Fernando, 
a place never to be forgotten in the history of Paraguay ; for it 
was there that nearly all the victims of Lopez perished, and 
under tortures, too, inflicted with fiendish ingenuity. 

" Daily I saw men tortured in the cepo de Uruguay ana, of 
which more hereafter ; others and women flogged, many of 
them to death, or shot or bayonetted in the most cruel way, 
during the months of July, August, and September ; all of 
them charged with treason and rebellion, but quite innocent of 
those crimes. More than seven hundred of them were slaugh- 
tered altogether. 

"On arriving there I saw Mr. Stark, a kind old gentleman 
and a British merchant. He had resided in Asuncion many 
years, and was greatly esteemed and respected. He looked 
very ill and dejected. I was not allowed to speak to him, but I 
saw him flogged, and often treated very brutally in other ways. 
He was shot, with a batch of other prisoners, about the begin- 
ning of September. John Watts, another Englishman, who 
was chief engineer to one of the gunboats, and Manlove, an 



mk. tayloe's narrative. 



263 



American, were shot on the same day. To the best of my 
knowledge, only two Englishmen were shot by Lopez ; the 
other died from starvation and exposure, as did one of my 
companions the day after our arrival. Poor Mr. Neuman was 
flogged horribly ; his cries could be heard all over the 
encampment, and he expired under the lash. 

"Old Sortera held out through months of starvation and 
suffering, but died eventually at Villeta, of ague. 

" At San Fernando were hundreds of other prisoners in the 
same deplorable condition as ourselves ; but as we were not 
allowed to speak to each other, we could not compare notes, 
and it was only after my release that I learnt that they were 
all charged with treason. 

" Our so-called prison was only a piece of ground about twenty 
yards square, staked out, and with the sky for a roof. The 
mode of securing us was equally simple, but dreadfully painful. 
To one of the stakes a hide rope was made fast ; prisoner No. 1 
lay down on his back, and loops were knotted fast round both 
ankles ; then No. 2 lay down two yards off, and was tied to the 
same rope. This was repeated until the row was full ; then 
another was commenced in the same way, and so on. The ends of 
the ropes were secured to other stakes, and they were stretched 
by the full strength of two or three men, until they were as taut 
as harp strings. We suffered terribly ; my ankles were soon 
covered with sores, and almost dislocated by the strain on them. 
In each prison space lay about fifty men. This mode of secur- 
ing prisoners is called " el cepo de lazo" or rope stocks. Thus 
we lay night and day, with the exception of a short time in the 
morning, when we were marched into the woods under a strong 
guard. Sometimes those who tied us up were more merciful 
than others, and did not strain the rope so tight; but frequently 
the agony was dreadful beyond expression. 

"A chain of sentries surrounded us, who used to kick and 
thrash us as they pleased. They had orders to shoot or bay- 
onet any who tried to escape. A request but for a little water 
was often answered by a severe flogging. 



264 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



" There we lay exposed to the burning sun, to the rain and 
storm, and almost maddened by the biting and crawling of the 
thousand insect plagues of the tropics, with very little food, and 
that only the offal of the beasts killed for the troops. "We got no 
salt and no tobacco, the latter was the greatest privation of all. 

"Of the prisoners, many were taken out to be examined or 
tortured, others to be shot. I seldom saw anyone undergo the 
torture ; for it was inflicted behind the bushes, or in the huts of 
the judges. 

" I saw an Argentine officer taken away one day, and when he 
returned the whole of his body was raw. The next morning, 
when we were loosened, I pointed to his back, but did not 
speak; he let his head fall on his breast, and with a stick 
wrote in the sand 100. From that I gathered he had received 
a hundred lashes with a cow hide, or else with one of the 
creeping plants (I think they call them lianas) which grew in 
plenty on the trees around us. That afternoon he was sent for 
again, and when he came back he wrote 200. The next day 
he was shot. 

"The prisoners were of all nationalities, and of all grades and 
positions : but with the heat, wear and tear, the rain and wind, 
they were soon all alike, nearly naked. And our guards used 
to offer us pieces of bread, or a few spikes of maize for our 
clothes : and, suffering from hunger as we did, we were glad to 
purchase a day's life at the price of a coat or a shirt. Amongst 
them were many women, some of them belonging to the best 
families in the country ; some quite old and grey-headed, 
others young and pretty, especially Dolores Eecalde, a tall and 
beautiful girl, and Josefa Requelme, a handsome woman, with 
very fine eyes. They suffered much, poor creatures, though 
they had little A-shaped straw huts to shelter them (as did some 
few of the other prisoners of the highest class) and used to weep 
piteously over their miserable fate. 

" Before giving an account of the examination and torture I was 
subjected to, besides that I daily suffered in the cepo de lazo, I 
must go back to a circumstance which occurred some time before, 



MR. TAYLOR S NARRATIVE. 



265 



and which, as will appear in the account of the interrogatories, 
gave me the clue to the cause of my arrest. 

" Two or three years before, an Italian, named Tubo, arrived in 
Asuncion, and opened a school ; he was an agreeable and plausi- 
ble man, but I did not like him. However, I sent one of my 
boys to his school for a short time. Signor Tubo made this a 
pretext for occasionally borrowing money of me. Subsequently 
I received a message from him, requesting my attendance at a 
meeting at his house with the object ^of initiating me into the 
mysteries of freemasonry. 

" Having heard that it was a good thing to become a mason 3 
especially if abroad, and also out of curiosity to know their 
secrets, I went, but found it was only a miserable attempt to 
extort money. All I got was a little apron, a sight of some 
pretended cabalistic characters, with which the room was 
adorned by the mountebank Tubo, and a lot of mystical rub- 
bish I could not understand. I said nothing the whole time I 
was there, and left as soon as I could, taking the little apron 
with me, that I might have something for my money, though it 
was too small to be of any use to me. 

"The next day I wrote to Mr. Watts, one of the steamboat 
engineers, about it, and he replied that it was all nonsense, and 
no freemasonry at all ; upon which I told Tubo that I would 
have nothing more to do with him. 

"Whether the freemasonry was connected with the so-called 
conspiracy or not, I cannot say. For my part, I do not believe 
that there was any conspiracy at all, unless on the part of the 
President himself and some of his tools, to rob foreigners of 
their money. 

" But to return to San Fernando. One day, when I was tied up 
as usual, I saw Major Serrano go past ; so I called out to him, 
for I used to know him very well, and take mate with him nearly 
every day, i Major Serrano, do you know Thompson ? ' (Mr. 
Thompson was a civil engineer who took military service under 
Lopez, and distinguished himself very much, afterwards being 
made a Lieut. -Colonel.) Serrano replied, ' He has no power 



266 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY . 



here/ This was said politely, but in a tone which showed that 
I could expect no kind offices from him. I told him I only 
wanted to send for some clothes, and get something to eat. 

" Serrano did not answer, but ordered the corporal of the guard 
to untie me, and then, taking me on one side, the following con- 
versation took place : — 

" ' Do you know why you are here ? 9 * No, I do not, and 
wish I did.' 

" * There are several charges against you ; the first, that you 
are fully acquainted with the name of the proposed new presi- 
dent ; the second, that you have received a sum of money from 
Captain Fidanza ; and Tubo has confessed, and divulged that 
you are one of his accomplices.' 

"I replied that the charges were all false, and that both he and 
Tubo knew that they were. 

6 ' Serrano went on: ' Well, I give you until to-morrow to 
reflect ; and if you then make a clean breast of it, the President 
will be merciful, and your life will be spared.' 

" I replied that I had nothing to confess, either the next day 
or at any other time, and my position and character were too 
high to fear accusations ; my countrymen and the Government 
had always had confidence in me. 

" Serrano said, 6 Yes, you once had clean hands ; but things 
have changed, and you have become as dirty as the rest.' He 
then ordered me to be tied down as before. 

" The next day Serrano came again, and asked me if I had con- 
sidered the matter, and if I would confess all I knew. I replied 
that I knew nothing, and requested that I might be confronted 
with my so-called accomplices. 

" Serrano became furious, and at once ordered the officer of the 
guard to put me into the Uruguay ana. It is said this torture was 
invented in the days of Bolivar, the South American liberator, 
and hence its old name of ' Cepo Boliviano,' changed by Lopez to 
4 Cepo Uruguayana,' after the surrender of Estigarribia there 
in 1865. 

" The torture is as follows, and this is how I suffered it : I sat 



mr. taylor's narrative. 



267 



on the ground with my knees up, my legs were first tied tightly 
together, and then my hands behind me, with the palms out^ 
wards. A musket was then fastened under my knees ; six more 
of them, tied together in a bundle, were then put on my 
shoulders, and they were looped together with hide ropes at one 
end ; they then made a running loop on the other side, from the 
lower musket to the other ; and two soldiers hauling on the end 
of it, forced my face down to my knees, and secured it so. 

" The effect was as follows : First, the feet went to sleep, then 
a tingling commenced in the toes, gradually extending to the 
knees, and the same in the hands and arms, and increased until 
the agony was unbearable. My tongue swelled up, and I thought 
that my jaws would have been displaced; I lost all feeling in 
one side of my face for a fortnight afterwards. The suffering 
was dreadful ; I should certainly have confessed if I had had 
anything to confess, and I have no doubt many would acknow- 
ledge or invent anything to escape bearing the horrible agony of 
this torment. I remained two hours as I have described, and I 
considered myself fortunate in escaping then ; for many were 
put in the uruguayana twice, and others six times, and with 
eight muskets on the nape of the neck. 

" Senora Martinez was tortured six times in this horrible way, 
besides being flogged and beaten with sticks until she had not 
an inch of skin free from wounds. 

" At the expiration of two hours I was released ; Serrano came 
to me, and asked if I would now acknowledge who was to be 
the new president. I was unable to speak, and he went on to 
say that I had only been kept in the cepo a short time, owing to 
the clemency of his Excellency Marshal Lopez, and that if I 
did not then divulge it I should have three sets of irons put upon 
me, eight muskets in place of six, and kept in much longer. I 
was so utterly exhausted and so faint at the time that his threats 
made no impression on me. Afterwards I was taken back to 
the guardia, and as a great favour I was not tied down that 
night. 

" The next day, July 25th, Serrano again called me up, and 



268 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



asked me who authorized me to mine the railway bridge at 
Ibicuy, a rivulet about three miles out of Asuncion. I replied 
that I had never heard of the bridge being mined, and that I 
knew nothing of such falsehoods. 

' ' On the 26th, Serrano came again, accompanied by an officer 
named Aveiros. The latter asked me what masonic grade I 
had. I replied that I was not a mason, but that on one 
occasion I went to the house of an Italian named Tubo, who 
was endeavouring to establish a lodge on false pretences and 
mere moonshine. 

" Aveiros said, 6 Do you know that we have Tubo here?' 
' No ; how should I ? ' Serrano said, 6 We will have you face 
to face ; ' and Tubo was brought to the hut. The examination 
was conducted by a young Paraguayan lawyer, who had been 
some years in England, named Centurion. He asked me, point- 
ing to Tubo, ' Do you know that man ? do you know that he 
hates you ? ' He repeated the words, ( Do you know that he 
hates you ? ' in English, as I did not understand it when said 
in Spanish. I said, 6 1 wish to explain in English, as you 
(Centurion) understand it perfectly.' He said, * There is no need 
to grant your request, as you speak both Spanish and Guarani 
sufficiently well.' I said that I certainly ought to hate Tubo ; 
for he had got a good deal of money out of me on false pre- 
tences, and had cheated me in the masonic business. 

" Tubo then said that I had signed a paper consenting to form 
one of his masonic society. This I denied, and then Centurion 
asked Tubo if I had signed such a paper. Tubo hesitated, and 
said, * I think he did.' Centurion said angrily, 6 Your thinking 
is of no use ; did or did not Alonzo Taylor sign the paper ? ' 

"Tubo became more embarrassed, and could give no answer; 
so I told them that the whole affair was an imposition. He 
was dismissed, and I never saw him again, and heard that he 
was shot. 

"After Tubo left, Centurion questioned me about my country- 
men, and why some of them would not sign fresh contracts. 
I replied in Spanish, 6 Cad a barril tiene su asiento, y cada per- 



mr. taylor's narrative. 



269 



sona conoce sus intereses, 9 (that is, every man knows his own 
interests best). Serrano and Aveiros together : ' No, no, Alonzo, 
that won't do. You know why they will not renew their con- 
tracts.' I replied, 6 1 do not, but I do know that we English- 
men are heartily tired of war, and the reason why we went to 
the American Legation was, because there being no English 
consul in Asuncion, we thought that we might get protection 
there until we could leave for England. My other object in 
going there was in order that Mrs. Taylor, who was near her 
confinement, might have the benefit of Mr. Masterman's assist- 
ance, as there was no other medical man in Asuncion ; besides, 
I knew Mr. Masterman.' 

" Centurion : ' Indeed ! then it is your opinion that the 'nig- 
gers ' will take the town, and that you may be able to serve 
them.' 

"I replied, ' No ; I have always been faithful to his Excellency, 
and we have all done our duty, but are sick of the war, and 
want to leave the country.' 

" Serrano : ' You were once a good servant, Alonzo, but for 
some months you have behaved very badly.' 

"I was then taken back to the guardia, and put in the lashings as 
usual, with strict orders to speak to no one. 

"It is useless to attempt to describe the miseries of our daily 
life in San Fernando, one unvarying round of privations, fresh 
prisoners, punishment, and executions. Not a day passed but 
some of us were taken out to be beaten, tortured, or shot. The 
cries of those being flogged were heart-rending. Two Orient- 
ales I saw flogged to death ; and when young Capdavilla was 
shot, he was black and blue from head to foot from the blows 
inflicted on him. 

" There were several ladies amongst the prisoners; they were 
flogged in the huts, but we could hear their cries. 

" Some few of us were lucky enough to get a piece of hide to 
lie on at night, and make a shelter of by day. Only those who 
have lived in a tropical country can understand how trying it is 
to lie in the burning sun unsheltered. 



270 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



4 'We had very little food, and that chiefly offal; when it 
rained, which it did very often, we got none whatever, and I was 
always hungry. 

< <I had managed to preserve a stump of a lead pencil, and with 
it I made dots in the lining of my hat to record the flight of 
time, and I marked the executions down in the same way, long 
marks for men in important positions, and shorter ones for the 
rest. But the lining of my hat got loose, and I lost it and the 
pencil, on the march from San Fernando to Lomas Valentinas, 
and thus perished the only memorandum I had of the number of 
executions. But I am sure I am below the mark in stating that 
three hundred and fifty prisoners were shot during our stay at 
San Fernando.* 

' ' There were several guardias besides the one I was in, and 
there was one devoted to condemned prisoners ; it was next to 
mine, and I could plainly see how many were taken out for 
execution, and who they were. I saw "Watts and Mr. Stark 
taken out about the end of August or beginning of September. 

" The first execution I have any record of occurred on the 
fourth of August, when about forty-five, were shot. Amongst 
them the two Susinis, and another Italian named Bebaudi. 
Those who could not walk were taken in carts, the others 
marched down two by two in irons. Then a volley and a few 
straggling shots gave us food for meditation. If the victims 
had good clothes on, we saw the guard and the lower grade of 
officers come back wearing them. 

" I found the want of tobacco a great privation ; but one day 
I picked up a piece of clay, out of which I fashioned a pipe, 
which afterwards served for all hands on our way to Villeta : 
tobacco I used to look for, when we were set loose in the morn- 
ing, by the paths and wayside. The exposure to wet we suffered, 
and want of food, brought on rheumatism, ague, and dysentery, 
of which many died ; indeed, it seems almost a miracle to me 
that any survived such privations. 

"I cannot recollect the date when the army commenced their 
* Nearly double that number really perished there. 



mr. taylor's narrative. 



271 



retreat to Villeta, but it was in September ; but I shall never 
forget what we suffered on the way. 

" To give an idea of it, I should tell something about the 
country there. It is, like all on the western side of Paraguay 
nearly as far as Asuncion, very flat and marshy, covered either 
with impenetrable woods or immense lagoons, and everywhere 
intersected by rivers ; it is, I should say, almost equally divided 
between land and water. The roads, or rather paths, are, there- 
fore, never direct, but follow the edges of the woods, and go 
from one piece of high land to another, winding three or four 
miles to make one. The woods are so matted together by creep- 
ers that they look like scaffoldings covered with ropes, and the 
lagoons, when shallow, are full of a close grass, or reed, five or 
six feet high, and with rough saw edges which cut like a knife. 
In other places the palms seem to have killed all other vegeta- 
tion, and extend for leagues and leagues ; but it is worse walking 
there, for the fallen leaves and branches are covered with long 
sharp spines. 

" Before starting our irons were taken off, but we carried 
them with us, and we were allowed to talk together on the 
march ; at night we were put in the cepo de lazo as usual. I 
counted about 260 prisoners, fourteen of them foreigners, the 
rest Paraguayans. Amongst the former I remember 

" Serior Cauturo, an Argentine and a great friend of Stark's. 

" Fiilger, a German watchmaker. 

" Harmann, also German, and married to a Paraguayan. 

" Lieut. Romero, an Argentine. 

" Capt. Fidanza, Italian. 

" Leite-Pereira, Portuguese. 

" Segundo Bello, Argentine. 

" Batolome Quintara, ditto. 

" Amongst the latter were four ladies : Dona Juliana Martinez, 
wife of Col. Martinez, who, after the evacuation of Humaita, 
surrendered to the enemy with his 500 men reduced to skeletons 
by fatigue and want of food. 

" Dona Dolores Recalde. 



272 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PAEAGUAY. 



"The Seiioritas de Egusquiza, two aged spinster ladies, sis- 
ters of Egusquiza, formerly Lopez's agent in Buenos Ayres. 

" Two bullock-carts were dragged with us, supposed to con- 
tain the sisters of Lopez. 

" The first day we marched three leagues, and were terribly 
cut about by the thorns and long grass. On the evening of 
the second day we reached the edge of a large estero or shallow 
lake, and the guides said we ought to wait for daylight to cross 
it ; but when the officer in command was appealed to, he said, 
6 Prisoners to go forward at once, their march to be accelerated 
by the bayonet if necessary.' Which was done, nor was the 
latter used sparingly. We waded in up to our middles, ex- 
hausted by our day's march, and without food ; yet we had to 
struggle through for five weary hours as best we could, and 
when we reached the other side we got nothing to eat ; but they 
let us make fires to warm ourselves, for the nights were bitterly 
cold. 

"We finished our journey of 100 miles, in spite of the 
difficulties of the road and our exhausted condition, in seven 
days ; I mean as many of us as survived. Sefiora Martinez 
walked the whole distance, although her body was covered 
with wounds, her face blackened and distorted, and with a raw 
place on the back of her neck the size of the palm of my 
hand ; for this poor lady had been put six times in the 
Uruguay ana, as I have said. She was, until her arrest, most 
intimate with Madame Lynch ; but she was then selfishly 
abandoned by her once affectionate friend, and left to her 
dreadful fate. When I first saw her she was an extremely 
pretty young woman, and had reached but her twenty-fourth 
year when executed. She often spoke to me on the march, 
for companionship in misfortune makes us all equal and con- 
fidential, and Dona Juliana told me all her sorrows. She was 
very anxious to know if a large black mark she had over one 
of her eyes would disappear, or if it would disfigure her for 
life. The latter was the case ; for when I saw her led out to 
execution on the 16th or 17th of December, the mark was still 



MR. TAYLOR S NARRATIVE. 



273 



there. Her only crime being the fact that she was the wife of 
a gallant officer, who had been abandoned by Lopez, and was 
compelled to surrender through starvation ! 

" We got very little food on the road ; for it was only when 
we had to get out of the way, to let the troops pass, that we 
could find time enough to cook the wretched meat they gave us. 

" I well remember one awful estero we had to go through ; it 
is called the Estero Ypoa, and the bottom is of deep and stiff 
clay. We reached it late at night, and came out early in the 
morning ; but not nearly all those who went in, for the weak 
and sickly, and the old men, could not toil through it, and were 
either drowned or bayonetted. I saw two old men stuck fast 
in the mire, and left there to die of starvation or to be 
devoured by the vultures, which were already flying around 
them. 

"We arrived at Yilleta early in September, and there we 
were placed as before in the open air and in the stocks. One 
day I saw Mr. Masterman brought in as a prisoner in irons, and 
an American named Bliss with him ; but they did not remain 
long in the same guardia. I did not dare to speak to him ; and 
I saw him one day with his face bloody, so I suppose he had 
been tortured. 

" Only three executions took place there before December. 
Dr. Carreras, late prime minister in Monte Video, was the first 
to suffer; to this man can be traced the origin of this disastrous 
war (?) He was brought in a cart from San Fernando with Don 
Benigno Lopez, the President's youngest brother, and Leite- 
Pereira, the Portuguese consul. Then several priests were 
executed, with Cautura, and a great many officers, I should say 
fifty, were shot on that occasion. 

u To add to our miseries, cholera broke out amongst us, and 
our camp was shifted about four hundred yards up the hill. 
Afterwards we were again removed to a greater distance. 

"About the 7th of December the Paraguayans had lost, I 
expect, a great many men ; for sixteen officers were taken 
from amongst the prisoners, and released. At the same time, 

18 



274 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



about thirty foreigners, who had been brought from Cerro 
Leon, and many natives who had been imprisoned on various 
charges, some for three or four years, were executed. I saw 
them all confessed before being shot. The priests brought 
chairs, and the condemned knelt in front of them in turn. 
Amongst those shot on this occasion I saw Fiilger and Gustav 
Harmann, Germans, and the Argentine lieutenant, Romero. 

" Soon afterwards Mr. Treuenfeld, the German telegraph 
engineer, was brought in a prisoner. He did not seem to 
recognize me ; but at night we lay near each other, and he 
said, 1 I shall have plenty to tell you about Washburn (the 
American minister) and the English gunboats ; but I cannot do 
so now, for I am not allowed to talk.' 

" On the 16th or 17th of December Col. Marco, formerly 
chief of police, rode up to the guardia with several other officers, 
and he read the following names from a piece of paper : — 

" 6 Sosa. (A priest.) 

" 'Juliana Martinez. (Poor lady! she could scarcely stand, 
she was so emaciated and weak.) 

" 6 Dolores Recalde . (A tall and once a very beautiful girl.) 

" * Luisa Egusquiza. (This poor old lady must have been 
sixty years of age, with grey hair, and a very benign and vene- 
rable look. Her sister had already died, alone in her wretched 
hut.) 

" 'Benigno Lopez. (Brother of the President.) 

" 6 Jose Berges. (Formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs.) 

" e Bogado. (Dean of the Cathedral of Asuncion.) 

" < Colonel Alen. (One of the commanders of Humaita. He 
had lost an eye in trying to commit suicide.) 

" 6 Simon Fidanza. (An Italian merchant captain, who sold 
his ship to Lopez, and was not afterwards allowed to leave 
the country.) 

" 6 Leite-Pereira. (Portuguese consul)/ 

' ' Each answered to his or her name by walking forward and 
standing in front, until a line had been formed and the list gone 
through ; then they were marched off with a strong guard in 



mr. taylor's narrative. 



275 



front and rear. The sad procession was closed by three priests 
carrying chairs, who would confess the condemned at the place 
of execution. We never saw them again. At the expiration of 
about an hour a volley was heard, then a dropping shot, and all 
was over. The guard came back, one old soldier wearing 
Captain Fidanza's surtout, and the officer the uniform coat of 
Leite-Pereira, with its gilt buttons. 

" Perhaps some of these men may have deserved death. 
Captain Fidanza was said to have denounced the rest, but that 
was after he had been tortured, and he soon became insane. 
But surely there can be no excuse for such a revolting crime as 
shooting defenceless and innocent women for the faults, real or 
pretended, of their husbands, brothers, and lovers. Whether 
there was a conspiracy, time will show; but if the so-called 
conspirators were convicted on no better evidence than that on 
which I was kept a prisoner for five months, they must be re- 
garded only as victims and martyrs. The truth will out some 
day, and then President Lopez will take his proper place in 
history, as a hero or a fiend. 

" On the 21st of December we were released from the stocks, 
as usual, at 6.30, but at once tied down again, because the 
Brazilians had got our range, and shell was flying over and close 
to us, and the Paraguayans hoped to see us thus got rid of. 
But I felt no fear, and was quite resigned ; for the shocking 
misery I had suffered for five months had blunted, indeed nearly 
obliterated, all feelings, moral and physical. 

" Four days afterwards Lopez and Mrs. Lynch rode through 
the guardia, with several officers, and I think she drew his 
attention to us. We were ordered to stand in a row, and he 
came up to us, and asked, i Are you all prisoners ? ' We re- 
plied, 'Yes.' And then Mr. von Treuenfeld appealed to his 
Excellency, who asked him why he was there. Mr. Treuenfeld 
said he did not know, and the President told him he was at 
liberty, and might retire. I then approached, and said I should 
be very grateful for the same mercy. Lopez asked me who I 
was, and affected great surprise when he heard my name, and 



276 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



said, ' What do you do here ? You are at liberty.' Then the 
other prisoners, ten in number, came up and received the same 
answer. We remained with the officer, but without a guard, 
until the 27th of December, when, at five o'clock in the morn- 
ing, heavy firing commenced, round shot and shell flew amongst 
us, and shortly afterwards we were charged by the Brazilian 
cavalry. I was slightly wounded by a rifle-ball in the shoulder, 
but succeeded in escaping to the woods,, accompanied by two 
Argentine gentlemen. But many of the prisoners were too 
w^eak to move, and they were all killed. * 

" Later in the day we fell into the hands of some Brazilian 
soldiers, who took us before the Marquis de Caxias. He ques- 
tioned me, and then told me to go where I pleased. I said I 

was too weak to walk, and one of his officers, Colonel G ,t 

who had been a medical man, was kind enough to take care of 
me. I cannot express how much I owe to him.. 

" I was a miserable object, reduced to a skeleton, and en- 
feebled to the last degree. When I was at Luque I weighed 
178 pounds ; and when I went on board the gunboat 6 Cracker,' 
only 98 pounds. 

" After recruiting my strength for four days at Lomas, I left 
on horseback for Asuncion. I suffered terribly on the road ; 
for I had scarcely any flesh on my bones, and had not strength 
enough to keep myself in the saddle. 

" There I arrived at last, but so ill that I could not speak for 
some days ; but another Brazilian officer was very kind to me, 
and also Major Fitzmaurice, an English officer in the Argentine 
service. 

" The next day I went on board the ' Cracker,' where I was 
most kindly received by Commander Hawksworth Fowke, and 
found myself at last, thank God ! safe under the British flag. 
Everybody on board did all they could for me ; but it was some 
days before I could speak plainly, and could only lie huddled up 
on the deck. 

* Only five escaped, Mr. Taylor wrote subsequently. 

+ The name of this officer is unfortunately illegible. — G. F. M. 



ME. TAYLOB'S NAKRATIVE. 



277 



" My wife and children I have not yet seen ; but the French 
consul told me that they were in the cordilleras, alive and well. 
I am daily getting stronger and gaining flesh, but I look like a 
man just recovering from yellow fever ; and as I dictate this to 
Mr. Shaw, my memory sometimes seems to leave me ; I cannot 
fix my attention ; but I hope I shall soon recover my health, 
both of mind and body. 

" Asuncion, Jan. 20th, 1869." 

At the end of this painful narrative Mr. Taylor gives an 
anxious account of the money entrusted to his care by his 
fellow- workmen, all of which was, of course, lost. 

The following narrative appeared in ' ' La Nacion Argentina," 
a newspaper published in Buenos Ayres, on January 15, 1869. 
I knew the author of it, Captain Saguier, very well, and as one 
of my fellow- sufferers, his testimony is most interesting to 
me, especially as it also confirms many of my own statements. 

I saw a very bad translation of it in an English newspaper 
shortly after my return from the Plate ; but I cannot now lay 
my hand upon it. In the following version I have adhered as 
closely as possible to the text of the original. 

The editor of " La Nacion TT says : — 

" Captain Don Adolf o Saguier has furnished us with the 
following details relating- to the- acts of barbarity perpetrated by 
Lopez. 

" He (Lopez) caused the prisoners to receive five hundred, a 
thousand, and even two thousand lashes before shooting them. 

" Dr. Carreras was flogged thus most barbarously. Captain 
Saguier, who was placed within sight of Dr. Carreras, and, like 
him; in fetters for five months, saw the punishment inflicted, 
and speaks of his shrieks wrung from him by the blows inflicted 
with a hide rope and with sticks. 

" Berges was also flogged before being shot. Don Benigno 
Lopez (the President's younger brother) before execution was 
almost cut to pieces. Captain Saguier saw it done, and knows 



278 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



the executioner who flogged him ; he is named Aveiro, and 
was formerly a secretary in the Inland Revenue Office. 

" The Marquis de Caxias holds as prisoner a captain of 
cavalry, named Matias Goiguru. It was he who commanded at 
the execution of Benigno Lopez, General Barrios, the bishop, 
Dean Bogado, the wife of Colonel Martinez, Dona Mercedes 
Egusquiza, Dona Dolores Becalde, and others, whose names he 
does not remember. 

" This took place on the 21st of December, 1868, and their 
execution was witnessed, by order of Lopez, by his two sisters, 
Inocencia, wife of General Barrios, and Rafaela, widow of Don 
Saturnino Bedoya (who had been put to death, as Lopez had 
directed, by the prolonged infliction of the torture called the 
6 Cepo Uruguay ana'), and his brother Venancio. They were, 
after the execution was over, shut up in a large bullock-cart 
and sent away, but he does not know whither. 

"The greater number of the prisoners suffered tortures of 
all kinds before being made away with, such as the Cepo 
Uruguayana, flogging, and hunger. Many of those unhappy 
men, who had been put to the torture, died, sometimes five or 
six a day, from the agony or from starvation. 

"All these almost unheard-of scenes of horror were shown a 
few steps from, or in the presence of, Don Adolfo Saguier, who 
was also put in the Cepo Uruguay ana. His fetters weighed, 
moreover, forty-five pounds, and he lay in the stocks for five 
months, exposed to the sun and rain, as were all his companions 
in misfortune. This gentleman does not know why he was 
imprisoned ; nevertheless, he imagines that having been named 
fiscal to examine, in the style of Lopez, more than twenty poor 
fellows, and having questioned them without putting them to 
the torture or flogging them, and being unable to find any fault 
in them, he was, for that reason, immediately added to the 
crowd of victims to suffer the same fate as they. He considers 
that his life has been most providentially preserved, that he 
might tell to the world the horrible deeds of that monster (para 
relatar at mundo los horrores de ese malvado). 



CAPTAIN SAGUIER's NARRATIVE. 



" He suffered the torture of the cepo Uruguay ana, which, 
according to him, is a thousand times worse than those invented 
by the Inquisition in the time of Torquemada. When he suffered 
it, he fainted after a short time ; on his recovery he found that 
he had been taken back to his old place, and lay once more in 
fetters, and in the stocks ( cepo de lazo ). 

"He made the march on foot from San Fernando to Yilleta, 
his feet swollen, and his body emaciated by the sufferings he 
had undergone. He performed impassively this terrible journey 
of forty leagues over almost impracticable roads ; for orders 
had been given to bayonet all those, without distinction, whose 
strength gave out. There were generals, commanders, officers, 
soldiers, felons, priests, women, children, old men — in short, peo- 
ple of all kinds — who made the journey ; as might be expected 
many of these poor creatures fell to the ground exhausted, 
praying to God, and in a loud voice to their guards, that they 
would give them but a moment to rest, and then to go on 
again. But the orders of the monster were peremptory, and 
those who fell were executed without pity by Hilario Marco, 
formerly chief of police in Asuncion, who commanded. 

"It is useless to attempt to write the deeds of that monster 
Lopez ; for the language has not yet been invented in which 
one could narrate such unheard of horrors as he has committed, 
and that, too, in this age of civilization. Cruelties which were 
perpetrated in the most barbarous times cannot equal, nor even 
be compared to those which this barbarian has committed, 
almost in our sight. From the 21st to the 27th of December, 
almost all his men fell, and those who escaped with him were 
nearly all wounded, and were without supplies and ammunition. 
There only remain three or four little steamers hidden in the 
branches of the Upper Paraguay ; and the small force he can 
get together will soon be destroyed by the expedition sent in 
search of him. 

" Amongst the executioners in the service of the tyrant we 
may mention the following as the most infamous, leaving the 
rest for another occasion : — 



280 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS- IN PAEAGUAY. 



" General Resquin. 

4 4 Lieut. -Colonel German Serrano. 
'' 4 4 The priests Maiz and Roman. Maiz is he who was a prisoner 
for three years, accused as a conspirator ; afterwards he unsaid 
all (se desdijo de todo), and became, on coming out of prison, 
one of the most barbarous and cruel instruments of Lopez. 

44 Luis Carmines was another of the executioners who con- 
demned and murdered on his account. Also one Beron, and 
Aveiro, whom we have name-d before. 

44 Amongst the foreigners who have suffered were those of all 
nationalities : Englishmen, Frenchmen, North Americans, Span- 
iards, Italians, Portuguese, and Germans. It is useless to speak 
of the Argentines, Orientales and Brazilians, who have been 
sacrificed in crowds. 

" Amongst them we may mention several Frenchmen who 
were flogged to death, as were Messrs. Anglade and Filis- 
bert. It should be noticed that even the chancellor of the 
French consulate (Mons. de Libertad) scarcely escaped from 
the clutches of the sbirros of the tyrant. He has now gone to 
Europe in the gunboat 4 Decidee,' and, by order of Lopez, as 
a prisoner. 

" Of Italians : Fidanza (the captain of a barque), the two 
brothers, Susini, Rebaudi, and many more. 

44 Of Englishmen : Stark -and others, whos£ names we have 
not now before us, but those who are inquisitive or interested 
in these matters can learn them from Dr. Stewart, who is 
accessible to all. 

44 Of Germans: Neumann, Gustave Harmann, and others. 

44 Of Spaniards : Galarraga, Elordoi, Uribe, and many others. 

54 Of Portuguese : The Consul of H. P. Majesty, Leite-Pereira, 
the Vice-Consul Vasconcellas,. and others. 

44 We have mentioned that the Argentines, Brazilians, and 
Orientales were sacrificed en masse, 

44 There was one circumstance, perhaps unparalleled in history, 
attending the execution of Colonel Laguna. He received the 
fire of the platoon, and was pierced by four balls m spite of 



CAPTAIN SAGUIER's NARRATIVE. 



281 



this lie rose 1 from the ground to a sitting posture, and begged 
them to finish him ; a second time he received their fire, and 
again sat up, although his chest appeared torn to pieces. They 
again fired, and once more he raised himself ; and this terrible 
scene lasted until he had received the fifth volley, when he 
expired. 

" The Bolivians who entered Paraguay by way of Santo 
Corazon, to trade with the tyrant, were, without exception, 
sacrificed, in company with all the commanders and officers sent 
to him by General Saa de Pbcito, by way of Bolivia. 

" Gaspar Campos and Telmo Lopez were amongst those who 
perished from hunger ; for they were in the rear of the immense 
crowd of prisoners, very near to Senor Saguier r and the negro 
who divided the rations, consisting of a little piece of meat at 
ten and four, was, without doubt, rather carnivorous, and only 
when he was himself well filled did he attend to the poor hungry 
wretches at the times indicated, and frequently there was not 
enough for all. In such a state of affairs the weak and the sickly 
would perish first ; and thus died every day six, eight, or ten 
prisoners. 

" It is incredible' that in the present age, when the telegraph 
presents such a facile mode of communication between distant 
countries, and when even in barbarous regions manners have 
softened and improved, such atrocities should have been com- 
mitted so close to us, and in the presence of several (diplomatic) 
agents from foreign countries, wha have to- a certain extent 
authorized them by their presence. These agents, moreover, 
had frequent communication (with their Governments) by means 
of vessels of war, and yet have not protested, nor even, if they had 
not courage enough to do that, tried to- escape, that they might 
demand, in the name of justice, protection for, and endeavour 
to save, some- few of the many innocent people who have fallen 
victims to- the ferocity of the savage Lopez. Far from this, 
they have remained quietly there, embarking the treasure 
which he has stolen from foreigners, and from the Treasury of 
Paraguay." 



282 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



The last paragraph alludes to the French and Italian consuls, 
who were living on the most intimate and friendly terms with 
Lopez, receiving presents from him and Madame Lynch, making 
speeches in his favour at the public entertainments, and dining 
tete-a-tete with him and his mistress, whilst their countrymen, 
whom they had been sent to protect, were being put to death, day 
by day, after suffering the most appalling tortures and misery ; 
none knowing better than Mons. Cuverville that all these unhappy 
men, women, and children were perfectly innocent of the crimes 
they were charged with and suffered for ; and he alone holding 
the key to the mystery ; the means of proving conclusively that 
the charges against them were baseless fabrications. 

The treasure, mentioned above, was that contained in several 
boxes marked as belonging to Madame Lynch, and received on 
board the Italian and French gunboats. I doubted this story at 
first ; but my friend Lieut. -Col. Thompson, who was in command 
of the battery from whence the boxes were shipped, confirms it 
in his " War in Paraguay," where he says (p. 290), " Some of 
these steamers took away a number of heavy cases, each of 
which required from six to eight men to lift it ; they probably 
contained some of the ladies' jewellery which had been collected 
in 1867, as well as doubloons." 



CHAPTEE XX. 



BATTLES OF YPANE AND ITA-YVATE DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF 

LOPEZ ESCAPE OF THE ENGLISH CONCLUSION. 

Whilst I was still a prisoner I could hear, day after day, the 
heavy reverberations of the Brazilian gnns, and occasionally the 
sharper report of an exploding shell, but no progress seemed to 
be made ; indeed I had long ceased to look for help from the 
Allies ; but they were not entirely idle. On the 1st of October 
four iron-clads passed the batteries at Angustura ; they hoped to 
steal by at night in the shadow of the woods on the opposite 
shore, but were discovered by their unsleeping foes, and received 
several shots ; " every ball striking their armour," says Thomp- 
son, " gave out a bright flash" (a good illustration of the con- 
version of motion into heat and light) ; and fragments of splin- 
tered wood floating down the stream at daybreak showed that 
they had not passed unscathed. By the middle of the next 
month several other vessels joined these unhurt, for a long arm 
of the river, following the erratic course of streams flowing 
through sandy formations, had gradually deepened its channel, 
and that which the year before had been but a shallow brook 
covered with water lilies, was now a canal deep enough for the 
passage of sloops of war, and with an island in front of it to 
screen them from the Paraguayans. The iron-clads passed 
through and anchored off Yilleta ; but there they had a hard 
time of it, for a number of riflemen were hidden in the brush- 
wood on the left bank, and every Brazilian head shown above 
the bulwarks was the target for a dozen balls. 



284 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PARAGUAY. 



Caxias had by this time come to the conclusion that following 
Lopez up the country and leaving the whole breadth of it open 
for his escape was not the best way of finishing the war ; and 
he had conceived the plan of making a road through the- Gran 
Chaco, and attacking him in the rear of his position. The work 
was a long and difficult one, although the distance was but three 
or four miles, for every foot of the road had to be built on a 
swamp densely covered with trees, and intersected by a hundred 
streams. However, the trees were cut down and their stems 
laid side by side, and supplemented by palm trunks, formed it ; 
several bridges were constructed in the same way, and towards 
the end of November it was ready for the passage of the army. 

The Argentines remained at Palmas a few miles below Angus - 
tura, but the Brazilians numbering 32,000 of all arms moved up 
on the 25th of that month, embarked in the iron-clads at the 
northern end of the road, and landed at San Antonio, a village 
four or five miles above Villeta. They were allowed to land 
without molestation, and from my hut I could plainly see the 
long lines of tents they occupied. 

Between their position and that of Lopez was a deep, narrow 
stream called Ytororo (roaring water), which fell in foaming 
rapids into the Paraguay ; it was crossed by a bridge on the 
high road to the south, and, with the ever-recurring marshy 
woods, protected the northern fianks of the Paraguayans. This 
bridge was the key of the position, and Lopez sent General 
Caballero to defend it with 5,000 men and twelve guns. The 
enemy with their whole force attacked him on the 5th of Decem- 
ber. The army was separated into three divisions ; Osorio, in 
command of the 3rd brigade, marched early in the day up the 
stream, in the hope of finding a ford, with the intention of out- 
flanking the Paraguayans > but the ground was so difficult that 
he only succeeded in getting far enough to place it out of his 
power to render the other divisions the slightest assistance during 
the fight. To- General Orgollo was given the command of the 
centre, with orders to carry the bridge; whilst Caxias remained 
with the reserve on the right. About 10 a.m. Orgollo gallantly 



BATTLE OF YTOROKO. 



285 



led his men to the attack, and, in spite of a terrible fire from the 
Paraguayan artillery, crossed the bridge with the head of his 
column and charged Caballero, but after a severe hand to hand 
fight was forced to retreat. The Brazilian field guns now came 
up and cleared the bridge, and Orgollo again charged, but was 
once more beaten with great slaughter, and even after a third 
attempt the Paraguayans remained in possession, but the crim- 
soned torrent showed how dear it had cost them. The enemy, 
beaten and disheartened, fell back, and it was only when Caxias 
with the whole of the reserves fell upon the decimated Para- 
guayans, that they abandoned the post they had defended so 
stoutly, and retreated with half their guns, leaving 3,000 
Brazilians dead on the field. 

The position of Caxias was now a very critical one. Sup- 
plies were sent up with difficulty, Lopez harassed his outposts 
incessantly, and cut off several herds of cattle on their way 
through the Chaco ; and victories bought so dearly as the last 
would soon compel him to retreat ; so, nerved with the courage 
of despair, he again moved forward, and, after a pretty severe 
skirmish with the vanguard of the Paraguayans at Avay,* again 
met Caballero, who had been reinforced, and now commanded 
4,000 men and twelve guns. The Brazilians had 24,000, and 
literally surrounded their foes ; but these, as usual, fought so 
desperately that they were cut down almost to a man before 
they would yield. Caballero was dragged from his horse and 
robbed of his massive silver spurs, but as, luckily for him, gold 
lace had by this time become very scarce, he was dressed so 
plainly that the cambas had no idea how redoubtable a soldier 
had fallen into their hands, and he actually made his escape, 
with a few of his best men, from the midst of them. The 
Brazilian loss was again very heavy, 4,000 men liors de combat, 
and Osorio, who commanded, was severely wounded. 

Lopez was now seriously alarmed, and in all haste com- 
menced entrenching his position at Ita-Yvate, and, anxious as 

* A stream, so name 1 after Ava, a famous chief of the Gauranis : y means 
water, and also a river. 



286 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



ever to keep as far as possible from where fighting was going 
on, ordered the lines to be extended so far that he had not the 
means of manning them, and his rear was left quite open. 
" This, however," writes Colonel Thompson, who made them, 
" did not signify with a general like Caxias, who was certain 
to find out the strongest part, and attack there," as proved to 
be the case. 

But as a general Lopez was even worse than he. It was the 
desperate courage of his men, not any talent of his own, which 
had preserved him so long. And there can be little doubt that 
if he had had the battalions so uselessly slaughtered at Ytororo 
and Ypane behind the lines of Ita-Yvate, he might even then 
have defeated the Brazilians, and, afterwards falling upon the 
Argentines, have retrieved his position when it seemed most 
desperate. 

It is difficult to give a clear description of the position of the 
Paraguayans without a plan ; but it may be sufficient to say 
that there was an unfinished star-fort on the crest of a low 
hill, a ditch and parapet at some distance in front towards the 
river, and, to the south, much stronger lines resting at one 
extremity on the river, and on the other on the marsh of the 
Pikysyri. The latter were garrisoned by 1,500 men and boys, 
and mounted forty guns. About 3,000 of the best men, with 
fourteen guns, occupied the star-fort, and a thousand more were 
scattered along the outer parapet. 

On the 17th of December the Brazilians made a cavalry 
reconnaissance, and, surprising the 45th Regiment of Lancers, 
killed all save the commander and three men ; and on the 21st 
the whole army, n6w reduced to 25,000 men, took up a position 
in front of the Paraguayan lines. A division was detached, 
under General Barreto, with a battery of field artillery, which 
attacked the trenches of Pikysyri, and carried them, killing 700 
of the defenders and taking 200 prisoners, amongst whom were 
many women and children. Shortly after noon, the main corps 
d'armee choosing, as had been anticipated, the only point where 
they could meet with serious resistance, attacked the centre of 



YTA-YVATE. 



287 



the Paraguayan lines, and captured them after a most unne- 
cessary loss of life ; drove the men from their guns, but they were 
driven back in turn from the higher fort, the donjon of the field, 
and they lost 3,500 in killed and wounded before sunset. Lopez 
during the night recalled the few men he had sent on to Cerro 
Leon and Caapucu, and about 600 were added during the next 
two days to his scanty forces ; but it was evident that in a 
speedy retreat to the cordilleras lay his only hope of safety. 

The Brazilians were waiting for the Argentines to join them, 
and for the arrival of part of their artillery which had been left 
at Palmas, and thus gave him an excellent opportunity to 
escape without risking another engagement on the plains ; but 
he did not do so, expecting, probably, that with their usual 
procrastination the Allies would leave him unmolested for some 
weeks to come. 

On the 24th the Argentines came up, and on the morning of 
Christmas-day the Allied Generals sent a demand to Lopez to 
lay down his arms within twelve hours, reminding him of the 
amount of blood which had been shed, and begging that he 
would, by immediate submission, save the lives of the few of his 
people who were yet left. His answer was a remarkable one. 
I regret that I have not a copy in the original language, for the 
only English translation I have seen is so poor and incorrect 
that it gives but a sorry idea of the spirit of the original. I 
suspect it must have been written by Father Maiz ; but who- 
ever was the author it does infinite credit to his ability. Lopez 
writes, or is made to write, as if he were doing honour to the 
allied commanders in noticing their letter at all; and as if 
he were the most generous, most devoted and courageous of 
patriots, he speaks in touching terms of the bravery and self- 
abnegation of his soldiers, reiterates the baseless falsehood that 
he and they have fought and would still fight for the liberty and 
security of their fatherland ; and throws the whole blame of the 
war, and the guilt of the slaughter of his people, on his enemies. 

At this very time his hands were red with the blood of his 
own brother, with that of the bishop, who had been his play- 



288 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



fellow when a child, and his most devoted friend through life, 
and of the most gallant and fearless of his officers. Well was it 
said that language (and especially a written one) is intended to 
conceal our thoughts ! 

As soon as the fighting began at Ita Yvate, Lopez abandoned 
his quarters, and had a tent erected in a wood a jnile or more in 
the .rear, and he kept on horseback ready for escape during the 
whole of each .morning when he expected the Allies would again 
attempt to -carry the place by a general assault. On the 25th, 
forty-six guns being in position, a tremendous but badly directed 
fire was poured into the /place : shot, shell, and xockets swept 
the lines the whole of that day ; and on the next the Brazilians 
attacked, and — it is almost incredible — twenty thousand of them 
were hurled .back in confusion by less than two thousand Para- 
guayans ! I have spoken again and again of the courage of that 
devoted race, but every word I have written seems tame and 
lifeless beside the bare record of such a day as that. I feel 
angry with myself for admiring them as I do, knowing for how 
pitiful a poltroon, for how baseless a lie they fought; but 
I am proud of my intimacy with them, of the little help I so 
gladly gave them. 

The fire was resumed, and continued all the next day, but the 
Paraguayans still fought the three or four guns they had left, 
firing them from the ground as they lay after they had been 
dismounted, and obstinately refusing to surrender. But on the 
27th the Argentines, supported by their Brazilian allies, made 
an end of the few of the garrison left — less than a thousand — 
but every one cost the life of two of his foes. About three 
hundred who had escaped to the woods were surrounded and 
taken prisoners ; the rest died to a man. 

Lopez fled early in the day ; he left alone that his absence 
should not be noticed, not even telling Madame Lynch, who had 
remained with him, when or where he was going, and leaving 
her to her fate. All his personal baggage was taken ; his 
treasure, that is the money he had stolen from murdered foreign- 
ers and his countrymen, had been previously sent to Pirububuy, 



FLIGHT OF LOPEZ. 



289 



under the care of Mc Mahon ; his papers, and lists of the prisoners 
whp had been executed ; also a hundred pairs of boots, mostly of 
patent leather, which, in obedience to the native weakness I 
mentioned on page 39, he was especially proud of, — all fell into 
the hands of his enemies. He had one satisfaction, few amongst 
them would have a foot small enough to wear them.* 

He fled, without drawing bridle, to Cerro Leon, picking up on 
the way a few scattered cavalry who were making for the same 
point ; and he fled unpursued ! As I was not there at the time, 
I quote the following from Col. Thompson, who was ; for the 
fact is difficult to understand. 

He says : " Caxias states that Lopez was accompanied by 
scarcely ninety men, and of these only twenty-five arrived with 
him at Cerro Leon. This, if not quite correct, was certainly 
very nearly so ; and knowing it, why did not Caxias the Com- 
mander-in-chief of the allied army, being at war, i not with the 
Paraguayan nation, but ivith its Government,' and having 8,000 
magnificently-mounted cavalry with nothing to do, pursue Lopez, 
whom he might have taken without the loss of a single man ? 
Was it from imbecility, or from a wish to make more money out 
of the army contracts ? Was it to have an excuse for still 
maintaining a Brazilian army in Paraguay ? or was there an 
understanding between Caxias and Lopez ? Or was it done 
with the view of allowing Lopez to collect the remainder of the 
Paraguayans in order to exterminate them in ' civilized warfare ' ? 
Be this as it may, the Marquis de Caxias is responsible for every 
life lost in Paraguay since December, 1868, and for all the suffer- 
ings of the unfortunate men, women, and children, then left in 
the power of Lopez. "f 

On the 29th, the garrison of Angustura, which still held out, 
was summoned to surrender, but refused ; the next day, how- 

* The South American Indians have remarkably small feet, the Spaniards also 
are favoured in rhis respect. Amongst the Paraguayan women I saw some of the 
prettiest imaginable, and as they were unspoilt by high-heeled shoes and com- 
pression, their arch and elasticity gave a singular^ graceful step and carriage. 

t The Paraguayan War. Lieut.-Col. Thompson. Longmans and Co. 

19 



290 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEABS IN PAEAGUAY. 



ever, Lieut. -Col. Thompson, who commanded it, raised a flag of 
truce, and sent a letter to the allied generals complaining of a 
monitor which had misused one on the day before. This com- 
plaint was very curtly answered, and he was informed that 
Lopez had been completely routed and had fled to the hills, and 
he was again summoned to surrender. Thompson asked per- 
mission to send five oflicers under a safe conduct to see if this 
were the case ; which was granted, and they found, quite unex- 
pectedly, that the statement was correct. On the return of the 
officers a capitulation was agreed to, the soldiers to march out 
with the honours of war, and the officers to be liberated on 
parole. These terms were accepted, and at 11 a.m. on the 30th 
of December, 1869, the last important stronghold of Lopez was 
given up to the enemy. The garrison numbered 1,200 effectives, 
but principally old men and boys, with 800 wounded ; also a 
great many women and children. 

Lopez rode direct, as I have said, for Cerro Leon ; the deep 
streams he had to ford or swim somewhat checked his flight, and 
gave time for Madame Lynch, with Generals Resquin and Cabal- 
lero, to overtake him. The latter, after meeting him, went back, 
and, collecting a few men, protected his retreat from the scat- 
tered bodies of Brazilian cavalry, scouring the low hills to the 
east ; but was forced to retreat in turn before a larger force. 
General Resquin had a narrow escape in trying to keep pace 
with Lopez, he was badly thrown, and remained stunned and 
insensible for -some time, but at length recovered far enough to 
keep his seat in the saddle. Another field officer, less fortunate, 
I must mention, — for the accidental sight of his name recalls his 
fine soldierly figure so vividly that I can almost hear the cheer- 
ful "Buenos dias" with which he so often greeted me, — Colonel 
Toledo. He was a great favourite with Carlos Lopez, and for 
many years had held the important post of commandant of the 
President's escort. When I knew him he was a tall, handsome old 
man with very white hair, and with a voice and address which 
would have done honour to the most courtly of diplomatists. 
Whilst the battle of Ita Yvate was raging, Lopez was sheltered 



THE CAMP AT AZCUKEA. 



291 



behind two thick walls, but his guards were dropping fast ; their 
old colonel, however, sat unmoved in the midst of them with a 
face as serene as if they were but drawn up for inspection ; pre- 
sently Lopez called to him " Go and fight," he bowed low, took 
a lance from a soldier near him and rode towards the enemy, 
but a few moments afterwards fell dead from the saddle, almost 
at the feet of his unpitying master. 

About half way to Cerro Leon, Lopez met Colonel Caminos, 
who was coming from that place with 2,500 men and a few pieces 
of artillery, but not feeling safe even then, he continued his head- 
long flight almost alone, ordering them to follow as quickly as 
possible. The hospitals near the cerro were full of wounded, 
and from amongst them about 3,000 were found able — in some 
sort — to bear arms ; with these and the stronger men, under the 
command of Caminos, the place was garrisoned and some tem- 
porary works thrown up ; but on the last day of December Lopez 
fell back to Azcurra,* at the foot of the cordillera. 

I have spoken of the picturesque wildness of the pass, and of 
the view over the. broad and beautiful valley, from its summit, 
from the sparkling lake of Ypacarai fed by the river Pirayu, 
which flows midway through the valley, to the swelling hills 
of Paraguari and the rocky steep of Santo Tomas. I had looked 
on that scene with unmingled pleasure, but the now starving 
Paraguayans gazed on it with far different feelings ; from the 
palm-covered height of the pass they could see the plains of 
Paraguari glowing at early morning before the midday mirage 
obscured the view, and more brightly still in the rays of the 
setting sun, with the rich yellow of ripening Indian corn ; for the 
low alluvial valley had been planted with thousands of bushels 
of seed ill-spared from their scanty store, and now it was ready 
for the sickle. They saw it ripen in the sun, and they saw it 
decay in the sweeping torrents of the equinoctial rains ; they 
died — poor creatures — by hundreds from starvation, with a 
thousand acres of golden wheat almost within their grasp. 



Vide page 76. 



292 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



A few cartloads were brought in for the use of the soldiers, 
and for feeding the horses of the principal officers, but 
the crowds of women and children who were cooped up in the 
hills got none ; they were not allowed to harvest it, lest they 
should go over to the Brazilians who were encamped beyond. 

The Allies, meanwhile, had moved up to Asuncion and 
occupied it ; and the rest which the troops greatly needed 
having been afforded them, they made preparations for finishing 
the war. Their movements were greatly facilitated by the 
railway from the capital to Paraguari, but the destruction of a 
timber bridge over a small stream by the Paraguayans, a few 
miles out, was a serious hindrance to them. I have been 
terribly taken to task for writing that the Brazilians are but 
poor soldiers ; however, I think I am safe in saying that they 
are very poor engineers ; for the repair of that single bridge 
occupied them two months, when I am certain that an English 
carpenter would have devised a plan for doing it in as many 
weeks. But they completed it at last, and reached the river 
Pirayu by the middle of May, upon which the Paraguayans 
retired about a league from their old position, to the foot of the 
cordillera. 

A few troops were left in Cerro Leon, and on the arrival of 
the Brazilians a rather severe engagement, considering the few 
men engaged on the other side, took place. The Paraguayans 
retreated with heavy loss, and the same day Lopez fell back to 
the further side of the cordillera, destroying, before he left, 
every house, fence, and fruit tree, leaving, as he had ever done, 
a desert behind him. 

About the middle of April, whilst the Paraguayans still held 
the railway at Paraguari, he tried a new and rather ingenious 
mode of warfare. He had a heavy gun mounted on a truck at 
the end of a train of waggons, which were filled with men, 
with the engine at the other extremity ; and one morning the 
train rattled down to the bridge, and engaged the enemy at 
short range. The fire, however, was returned so hotly that the 
Paraguayans retreated somewhat hastily, but more from the 



MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY. 



293 



fear that the train might fall into the enemy's hands, than from 
any loss they had sustained. 

Whilst the Brazilians were still at Piraju a division was 
detached and pushed forward to Paraguari, and penetrating the 
cordrllera at the pass Sapucai, meeting with but little resistance, 
occupied the village of Ybytymi, which is about seventy- 
five miles from Asuncion. They marched in so unexpectedly 
that Lopez had not had time to order it to be evacuated and 
destroyed, and several native families were rescued. The 
Brazilians treated them kindly, giving them rations of beef and 
farina (cassava meal), but the poor creatures had been so 
imbued by Lopez with the idea that they would be outraged 
and murdered, that many of them afterwards fled to the woods. 

Caballero was sent to drive the invaders back, but he arrived 
too late, and they had emerged from the Cordilleras, where he 
could have attacked them with impunity, and reached the valley 
of Piraju before he came up with them. But many of the 
women were recaptured by him, and were cruelly tortured, and 
afterwards executed by Lopez for their attempt at escape. 
Amongst the fugitives was a senorita — whose name I cannot 
recall — a cousin of Gen. Caballeros' ; she was seated in a 
bullock- cart which contained all that remained of her worldly 
possessions, and which, moving slowly, was falling fast to the 
rear, so much so that the shouts of the pursuing Paraguayans 
could be plainly heard ; several of her companions were linger- 
ing and looking back, undecided if they should go ol 02; give 
themselves up, but she impatiently jumped out of the cart, and, 
opening a bundle she carried, threw them a roll of notes repre- 
senting some three hundred dollars, saying, " If you intend to 
stay with Lopez take these, for you will need them; I am going 
where I can get something to eat;" and ran off to the head of 
the column. 

The Arsenal, established in Caacupe in 1868, and to which a 
considerable part of the machinery from that in Asuncion had 
been removed, was kept working day and night, and in six 
months turned out sixty guns of light calibre, suitable for 



94 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAES IN PAEAGUAY. 



mountain warfare, many of them rifled ; the work was done by 
natives, under the forced supervision of English artisans. 
Expeditions, also, were sent to the battle-fields of Villeta, and 
a considerable quantity of rifles, which the Allies had not taken 
the trouble to collect, were recovered, lances were manufactured 
for those who were unprovided with muskets, and in this way 
Lopez was once more surrounded with an armed force. When 
Caxias so criminally allowed him to escape, he laughed at the 
idea that the Paraguayans could ever again become formidable ; 
forgetting the sage Spanish proverb, No hay enemigo chico,* 
and it is really marvellous how soon a new army was formed 
and equipped. 

The next operation of the Brazilians was sending two iron- 
clads of light draught up a stream called Manduvira, which drains 
the valleys to the north of the lesser cordillera, and falls into the 
Paraguay a little above Emboscada. The three small steamers 
left to the Paraguayans were hidden in the woody recesses of 
this stream, and the object of the enemy was to capture them, 
and at the same time to get in the rear of Lopez's position. 
He, however, prevented both by sinking the smaller of the three 
in the narrow channel, and thus effectually blocking it. 

In the meantime Caxias had been recalled, and the chief com- 
mand of the allied army given to the Comte d'Eu, the son-in- 
law of the Emperor ; and in May, 1869, his troops were con- 
centrated in Pirayu ; a small force only being left to guard the 
capital, where a provisional government had been formed, 
pending the conclusion of the war. 

A Paraguayan legion had been enrolled from prisoners and 
deserters, and they displayed the national flag, a tricolour of 
horizontal stripes with a lion guarding a cap of liberty in the 
centre, in their midst. Lopez was greatly enraged when this 
was reported to him, and he wrote to the Comte d'Eu, that if 
it were not immediately taken down he would order all the 
Brazilian and Argentine prisoners he held to be shot. The 

* Freely : " No enemy should be despised." One seems to form proverbs almost 
unconsciously in the terse sentences of the Spanish tongue. 



BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 



295 



Brazilian commander replied that the Paraguayan legion was 
composed of volunteers, and that they, and not he, had the right 
to decide what flag they would use. And as for the prisoners, 
he doubted if any were then left alive, but if they were he was 
sure that they would soon die from misery without the necessity 
for shooting them. This was true enough, for the seventy or 
eighty captives Lopez then held were dying fast from disease 
and starvation, and they were put to death by the thrust of a 
lance whenever a pretext could be found for doing so ; however 
he did not carry out his threat, but it would have been a mercy 
to have done so, for very few of them were in existence a month 
afterwards. 

The sufferings of the people shared by all, now fell most 
heavily upon the women and children ; the short supplies of 
beef were distributed solely amongst the soldiers, the rest had 
to live upon such food as the forest afforded them. The oranges, 
there growing everywhere by the wayside, were eaten before 
they were half ripe, the guava trees were stripped of their green 
fruit; every herb, every berry, which could yield nutriment was 
eagerly sought for, but the multitude was too great, the edible 
plants too few, and they prolonged their lives but to die the 
more painfully. 

At sunset every evening, a long procession left the outskirts 
of the camp, walking slowly towards the church of Caraguatai, 
and stopped at the brink of a shallow pit scooped in the yielding 
sand. A line of half-naked women bearing each on her head a 
corpse tied to a plank or bamboo, so light, so attenuated by the 
process of slow starvation under the glowing sun, that feeble as 
the bearers were, they carried them alone. Their fathers, their 
husbands, lay in the pestilential swamps of San Fernando, and 
now they were thus carrying their sons to their burial. The 
trench they had dug with their own hands, and with weary, 
tearless eyes they looked upon them, ere those same hands which 
had fondled them as children spread over them the ruddy 
sand, their only shroud. Often a bearer stumbled under the 
light weight she carried, and another corpse was added to the 



296 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PAEAGUAY. 



tale. One could not walk a furlong in the woods without coming 
upon a dozen who had died whilst searching for food. " In less 
than six months," writes Mr. Valpy, who gives me these par- 
ticulars, and who saw it all, " more than a hundred thousand 
women and children died in the cordillera from sheer starvation/' 

The widows and female relatives of the so-called conspirators 
had been sent to Yhu, a village about thirty leagues from Az- 
curra. They belonged, with few exceptions, to the best families 
in Paraguay, many bearing names famous, in Spanish history. 
They were stripped of all save their tupois and a shawl, and 
made the journey on foot, often having to cross wide marshes 
and wade through them in four feet of Abater. Mrs. Stark, a 
: British subject, and her four children, so shamefully abandoned 
to their fate through the craven policy of our Government, 
started on that journey, but reached her destination childless. 
The terror and anxiety depicted in the faces of these poor crea- 
tures were painful beyond expression. 

In June and July expeditions were made by the Allies to San 
Jose and to the iron mines of Ybicui, for the purpose of de- 
stroying the workshops and cannon foundry, giving time, however, 
to Lopez to remove all the guns he needed. The latter was 
still encamped at Azcurra, but Piribebui had been entrenched 
and batteries thrown up commanding the approaches to it, and 
the main army there awaited the onset of the foe. 

In August the Brazilians marched a column through Valen- 
zuela, destroying the sulphur works they found there, and thence 
to Barrero Grande, which is some five leagues east of Azcurra. 
At the same time part of the Argentine troops, under General 
Emilio Mitre, forced the pass of Atyra, and occupied the village 
of that name lying five leagues north-east of Azcurra, and three 
from Barrero Grande. Thus Lopez was hemmed in on all sides : 
in front was the Brazilian main cojjjs d'armee at Pirayu; part of 
the Argentines at Tacuaral and Guasuvira ; the Brazilian divi- 
sion and the Paraguayan legion at Barrero Grande ; and the rest 
of the Argentines at Atyra, with the iron-clads still lying in the 
Manduvira. Nothing would have been easier or more certain 



CAPTURE OF PIRIBEBUI. 



297 



than his capture or destruction. But now the Allies committed one 
of those enormous strategical blunders for which this war is so 
famous. Instead of approaching Azcurra and converging rapidly 
on their common centre, completely encircling Lopez and cutting 
off his communications with Piribebui, Mitre marched his troops 
to Altos, two leagues north of Atyra, and the Brazilians moved 
to Piribubui ; in fact, instead of converging they opened out 
their lines like a broken fan, leaving a space of twenty miles in 
the rear of Lopez free for his escape ! 

On the 12th of August Comte D'Eu summoned Caballero 
to surrender ; he, however, although he saw that resistance was 
useless, feared Lopez more than the Brazilians and refused to 
do so, and the place was carried by assault. The Paraguayans 
had 1,500 men, the enemy 10,000 ; the latter lost heavily, and the 
veteran General Mena Barreto was killed ; of their foes scarcely 
one was left alive, and many women and children perished in 
the melee. Col. Caballero was taken alive, but was bayonetted 
whilst pitifully praying on his knees that his life might be 
spared. 

On the afternoon of the same day Lopez announced that a 
great victory had been gained, and had a Te Deum celebrated 
in the camp in celebration of it ; but the next morning silent 
preparations were made for a retreat. At ten o'clock at night 
he passed through Caacupe on his way to San Joaquim, having 
sent some of his best troops ahead a few hours before ; and a 
train of fifteen guns followed, dragged by the women. He 
reached the latter place unmolested, and has since carried on a 
guerilla warfare in the fastnesses of the hills, where he is to 
this day (March 30th, 1870) still unsubdued. 

A great many native women, as well as the residue of the 
English employes, including Mr. Yalpy, Mr. Burrell, and Mr. 
Twite, civil engineers, and Mr. Skinner, surgeon, were left in 
Caacupe in a state of the greatest anxiety and uncertainty. A 
few troops still occupied the town, and every hour they expected 
to receive orders to march, with the prospect of torture or death 
before them for lingering behind with the intention of desertion — ■ 



298 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEAKS IN PAKAGUAY. 



as Lopez would have termed it. An officer actually was sent by 
him to command them to come on ; but Bacchus, to whom so 
many of the English had sacrificed so devoutly, laying even 
their lives upon his shrine — empurpled as much with blood as 
with wine — came to their help. In other words, the officer fell 
in with a bottle of rum, and when he arrived at the encamp- 
ment he was so intoxicated that he could give no intelligible 
orders ; he was lifted from the saddle and lay in a drunken sleep 
on the ground, from which he awoke a prisoner in the hands of 
the Brazilians. 

Mr. Skinner left by daylight to rejoin Lopez, Mr. Nesbit was 
also with him, and no news have since been received of either 
of them. 

On the 15th of August the Brazilians came up and rescued the 
remainder ; they were treated rather brusquely at first ; which 
indeed is not to be wondered at, for their captors could but be 
aware how important the forced help of the English engineers 
had been to Lopez. However they were set at liberty, 
and nearly all have returned to England, and either personally 
or by letter have given me most interesting accounts of their 
adventures. To Mr. Yalpy, especially, I am greatly indebted 
for the notes from which this chapter has been principally 
compiled. 

I have now brought this painful story to a close. I have 
tried to state the facts as I know them, the scenes as I wit- 
nessed them, and have not intentionally added one touch of 
exaggeration, one word which could make them more horrible 
than they were in their terrible reality. My notices, rather than 
accounts, of some of the battles are necessarily imperfect, and 
may be incorrect in many particulars ; for I was not present at 
one of them, and my sources of information were not always 
trustworthy : nor have I mentioned many of the incidents of 
the war deserving of notice ; * but in representing the courage, 

* Those who desire full information on these points I would refer to Lieut.- 
Colonel Thompson's " Paraguayan War." 



CONCLUSION. 



299 



the fearlessness of death, of the Paraguayans as so extraordinary, 
my statements are fully supported by every one, of whatever 
shade of opinion, who has written or spoken of this singular 
people. 

They exist no longer — there is a gap in the family of nations ; 
but the story of their sufferings and of their heroism should not 
perish with them. For myself, I think of them with regret and 
sorrow ; the cruelties I endured at the hands of some have not 
changed in the least the hearty sympathy I felt for them as & 
people ; but, at the same time, I can but feel that their destruc-j 
tion sooner or later would be inevitable : " the tree which will 
bring forth no fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire." 
They were not capable of true civilization ; they could not^ 
govern themselves ; they would have remained children to the ; 
end of time. Their magnificent country remained almost a; 
wilderness, and they would have none to do that which they 
would not do themselves. The foreigners, whom they dis- 
trusted and despised, will till the ground which they abandoned 
to tares and brambles, and enjoy the fair heritage which they 
were unworthy to possess. 

Believing the miserable sophisms of the Church of Home, ! 
sunk to even a lower depth, not making idolatry a part of their 
religion, but their religion itself, they lived practically without 
God, with no thought beyond the present hour. 

Indolent and licentious, the population scarcely increased ; 
and the condition of the bulk of the population was such that 
sound health was impossible. 

Unthinking and unreasoning, they were content to remain in 
ignorance and barbarism, a hundred years behind their neigh- 
bours ; they bowed in timid deference, in blind devotion, to 
any tyrant set over them, to any despot unscrupulous enough 
to plunder them, and would not lift a finger to rid themselves 
of burdens the most intolerable. 

Yet I can neither entirely blame nor pity them. Their 
gaiety, their politeness, their unaffected kindness and charity to 
each other, when no shadow of the Government was upon 



300 



SEVEN EVENTFUL YEARS IN PARAGUAY. 



them, their obedience to superiors, shown so strangely in the 
cruelties they suffered and inflicted, their love of home and 
country, their courage and endurance, made them too estimable 
for the one or the other. 

1 The Teuton and the Anglo-Saxon will soon fill the void this 
war of extermination has made, and permanent prosperity will 
banish all trace of its devastations. It is well that it should 
be so ; still I feel like one who sees some old wood, once a 
mere waste of encumbered ground, and which could only be 
entered by stealth, being at length converted into the home of 
a busy industry, and covered with houses and streets. He 
admits that the change is a vast improvement ; but yet remem- 
bers, with sad regret, the picturesque beauties of the useless 
mossy trees, and the bright wild flowers which grew beneath 
them, 



APPENDIX. 



TRANSLATION OF THE TRIPLE ALIANZA. 

" Teeaty of Alliance against Paraguay. Signed the 1st of 
May, 1865, between the Plenipotentiaries of Uruguay, of Brazil, 
and of the Argentine Republic. 

" The Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, the 
Government of H.M. the Emperor of Brazil, the Government 
of the Argentine Republic : 

" These last two being actually at war with the Government 
of Paraguay, the same having been declared by that Government, 
and the first in a state hostile to, and threatened in its internal 
security by, the said Government, injuring the Republic, solemn 
treaties, international usages of civilized nations notwithstanding ; 
and unjustifiable acts having been committed, after having 
disturbed the relations of its neighbours by the most abusive 
and aggressive proceedings : 

" Persuaded that peace, the security and wellbeing of their 
respective nations is impossible whilst the actual Government 
of Paraguay exists, and that it is an imperious necessity, 
demanded by the highest interests, that the Government should 
be changed, preserving the sovereignty, independence, and 
territorial integrity of the Republic of Paraguay : 

' ' Have resolved, with that object, to enter into a treaty of 
alliance, offensive and defensive, and for that purpose have 
named their Plenipotentiaries, to wit : 

" H.E. the Provisional Governor of the Oriental Republic ; 
H.E. Dr. Don Carlos Castro, Minister for Foreign Affairs ; 



302 



APPENDIX. 



H.M. the Emperor of Brazil; H.E. Dr. Don T. Octaviano de 
Almeida Kosa, Councillor accredited to the A. G. L.* and Officer 
of the Imperial Order de Rosa ; H.E. the President of the 
Argentine Republic ; H.E. Dr. Don Rufino de Elizalde, his 
Minister- Secretary for Foreign Affairs : Who, having exchanged 
their respective credentials, and finding them in good and 
proper form, agree as follows : — 

' 'Art. I. The Oriental Republic of Uruguay, H.M. the Emperor 
of Brazil, and the Argentine Republic, unite in an alliance 
offensive and defensive for carrying on the war provoked by 
the Government of Paraguay. 

' 'Art. II. The Allies will act together with all the forces 
they can dispose of, by land or on the rivers, as they may find 
convenient. 

"Art. III. The operations of the war having commenced in 
the territory of the Argentine Republic, or in that part of the 
Paraguayan territory adjoining the same, the chief command 
and the direction of the allied forces shall remain in the hands 
of the President of the Argentine Republic, General-in-Chief of 
its army, Brigadier General Don Bartolome Mitre. 

"The naval forces of the Allies will be under the imme- 
diate command of the Vice-Admiral Yisconde de Tamandare, 
Commander-in-Chief of the squadron of H.M. the Emperor of 
Brazil. 

" The land forces of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, one 
division of the Argentine and another of the Brazilian forces, 
which shall be designated by the respective commanders, shall 
form an army under the immediate orders of the Provisional 
Governor of the Oriental Republic, Brigadier- General Don 
Venancio Flores. 

" The land forces of H.M. the Emperor of Brazil shall form 
an army under the immediate command of his Commander-in- 
Chief, Brigadier Manuel Luis Osorio. 

' ' Although the high contracting parties have agreed not to 
change the seat of war, nevertheless, with the object of pre- 
* National Legislative Assembly. 



APPENDIX. 



803 



serving the sovereign rights of the three nations, they have 
agreed from this date in the principle of reciprocation in the 
chief command, when operations may have to be carried on in 
Oriental or Brazilian territory. 

4 4 Art. IV. The internal military direction and economy of 
the allied forces shall be directed entirely by their respective 
commanders. 

"The expenses, victualling, munitions of war, arms, clothing, 
equipage, and means of transport of the allied forces will be at 
the cost of their respective States. 

"Art. Y. The high contracting parties will give mutual assist- 
ance, or materials which they may have and the others require, 
as shall be specially stipulated. 

"Art. VI. The Allies solemnly bind themselves not to lay 
down their arms, except by mutual consent, until they shall 
have destroyed the existing Government of Paraguay, and 
not to treat separately with the enemy, nor sign any treaty 
of peace, truce, armistice, or convention of any kind to put an 
end to, or suspend the war, unless they shall all agree to do so. 

" Art. VII. The war not being waged against the people of 
Paraguay, but against its Government, the Allies can receive a 
Paraguayan legion formed of any of the citizens of that nation 
who may wish to unite with them for the purpose of destroying 
the said Government, and will supply them with all materials 
they need, in the form and under the conditions to be hereafter 
established. 

" Art. VIII. The Allies engage, moreover, to respect the inde- 
pendence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Republic 
of Paraguay. Consequently the Paraguayans may elect their 
own Government, and choose such institutions as may be con- 
venient to themselves, and they will not be absorbed ; nor will the 
Allies claim a Protectorate, as a consequence of this war. 

"Art. IX. The independence, sovereignty, and territorial 
integrity of the Republic of Paraguay shall be guaranteed col- 
lectively, in conformity with the preceding article, by the high 
contracting parties for a period of five years. 



304 



APPENDIX. 



" Art. X. It is agreed by the high contracting parties that the 
exemptions, privileges, or concessions which they may obtain 
from the Government of Paraguay shall be common and uncon- 
ditional, or compensatingly equal, if conditional. 

" Art. XI. When the Government of Paraguay has ceased to 
exist, the Allies shall proceed to make the necessary arrange- 
ments with the constituted authorities, to secure the free 
navigation of the rivers Parana and Paraguay, in such a manner 
that the rules or laws of that Republic shall not obstruct, 
embarrass, nor impede the transit, nor the direct navigation of 
trading or war vessels of the Allied States, on the way to 
their respective territories or dominions which do not belong to 
Paraguay : and that they shall have due guarantees for the 
carrying out of these arrangements, on the principle that such 
rules of riverine police, although made for the two rivers, and 
also the river Uruguay, shall be established by the common 
consent of the Allies and the other bordering States, for the ends 
stipulated, they (the latter) accepting the invitation made to them. 

" Art. XII. The Allies reserve to themselves (the right) to 
concert the best means of preserving peace with Paraguay after 
the fall of the existing Government. 

"Art. XIII. The Allies will name at the proper time Pleni- 
potentiaries to make the rules, conventions, or treaties with the 
Government which may be established in Paraguay. 

"Art. XIY. The Allies will require from that Government 
payment of the expenses of the war, which they have been 
obliged to accept ; also, in reparation, indemnity for the injuries 
and detriment caused to property, public and private, and to the 
persons of their citizens, without express declaration of war, 
and for the injuries and damage committed subsequently in 
violation of the principles which regulate the laws of war. 
Likewise the Oriental Republic of Uruguay will claim a pro- 
portionate indemnity for the injuries and damage caused by the 
Government of Paraguay, through the war into which it has 
been forced to enter in defence of its security, threatened by 
that Government. 



APPENDIX. 



305 



"Art. XY. A special commission shall determine the mode 
and form of liquidation and payment of the above-named. 

"Art. XVI. With the object of avoiding disputes or wars in 
which the question of limits may involve them, it is established 
that the Allies shall require from the Government of Paraguay 
that when treating of limits it shall do so on the following 
bases : — 

" lstly. The Argentine Eepublic shall be divided from the 
Republic of Paraguay by the rivers Parana and Paraguay, until 
they reach the limits of the Empire of Brazil, such being on the 
right of the river Paraguay, at Bahia Negra. 

" 2ndly. The Empire of Brazil shall be divided from the 
Republic of Paraguay, on the side of the Parana, by the first 
river below the cataract of the Seven Falls, which is, according 
to the recent map of Manchez, the Igurai, and from the mouth 
of the Igurai, following its course, to its source. 

" 3rdly. On the side of the left bank of the Paraguay by the 
river Apa, from its mouth to its source. 

" 4thly. In the interior, from the ridge of the mountains of 
Maracayu. The slopes on the east shall belong to Brazil, and 
those on the west to Paraguay, drawing straight lines as near as 
possible from the said mountains to the streams of the Apa and 
the Igurai. 

"Art. XVII. The Allies guarantee reciprocally to each other 
the faithful performance of the arrangements and treaties which 
they may make with Paraguay, in virtue of which it is agreed 
that the present treaty of alliance shall always continue in full 
force and rigour, to the end that these stipulations shall be 
respected and executed by the Republic of Paraguay. 

" lstly. With the object of obtaining this result, they agree 
that : In case it is made impossible for one of the high con- 
tracting parties to obtain from the Government of Paraguay 
that which it requires, or that that Government shall seek to 
annul the conditions adjusted by the Allies, the others shall use 
their best endeavours to cause them to be respected. 

" 2ndly. If those endeavours should be useless, the Allies 

20 



306 



APPENDIX. 



shall unite all their forces, in order that these stipulations shall 
be effectually carried out. 

66 Art. XVIII. This treaty shall remain secret until the prin- 
cipal objects of the alliance shall have been obtained. 

" Art. XIX. Such stipulations of this treaty as shall require 
legislative authorization shall begin to have effect as soon as they 
shall have been approved by the respective Governments, and 
the others from the exchange of ratifications, which shall be 
done within the term of forty days, counting from the date of 
the said treaty, or sooner, if possible, and in the city of Buenos 
Ayres. 

"In testimony of which the undersigned Plenipotentiaries 
of H.E. the Provisional Governor of the Oriental Eepublic of 
Uruguay, of H.M. the Emperor of Brazil, and H.E. the Presi- 
dent of the Argentine Eepublic, in virtue of our full powers, 
sign this treaty, attaching our seals, in the city of Buenos Ayres, 
the 1st of May, in the year of our Lord 1865. 

(Signed) " Caelos de Castko. 

" T. Octaviano da Almeida Bosa. 

-" BUFINO DE ELIZALDE." 

PBOTOCOL. 

"Their Excellencies the Plenipotentiaries of the Argentine 
Bepublic, of the Oriental Bepublic of Uruguay, and of H.M. 
the Emperor of Brazil, assembled in the Foreign Office, agree : 

" Istly. That in fulfilment of the treaty of alliance of this 
date, the fortifications of Humaita shall be demolished, and that 
they will not permit that another or others be constructed to 
impede the faithful execution of this treaty. 

" 2ndly. That one of the means of guaranteeing peace with 
the Government to be established in Paraguay being not leaving 
it arms or material of war, all that they find shall be divided in 
equal parts amongst the Allies. 

" 3rdly. That all trophies and booty taken from the enemy 
shall be divided amongst the Allies by the captors. 



APPENDIX. 



307 



" 4thly. That the Generals commanding the allied army shall 
concert together the best means for carrying these stipulations 
into effect." 

Signed as before. 



This treaty, having been made public prematurely at the 
demand of Her Majesty's Government, produced a storm of 
indignation throughout the greater part of South America. 

It was published in the " Semanario " of the 11th of August, 
1866, and did more to strengthen the hands of Lopez than 
anything his best friends could have devised. 

The intention of Brazil to seize Paraguay eventually is trans- 
parent enough, although the treaty seems to provide against 
such a measure. Compare Art. 8th with the 14th, and then 
with the 1st and 2nd of the Protocol. The Kepublic is to be free 
and independent ; but as the Allies are to be repaid all they 
spent during the war, and to receive compensation for all public 
and private injuries, we may be quite sure that some material 
guarantee will be demanded ; for, as Lopez and Madame Lynch 
have grasped nearly every dollar of hard money, and even the 
rings, chains, and combs of the poor market girls, to say nothing 
of the valuable property belonging to foreigners abandoned by Mr. 
Washburn, and have succeeded in sending away or secreting a 
great part of it, there is nothing but the soil of Paraguay left as 
such security. Brazil having already, by readjusting her limits, 
seized the district of the yerbales — the natural woods of yerba 
mate, the most valuable by far of the exports of Paraguay — 
leaves her allies but the sandy plains of the central and the esteros 
of the southern divisions, with the Misiones as a bone of con- 
tention. 

How can a beaten and weakened people, without arms, with- 
out fortifications, hope to hold their own against their turbulent 
and unscrupulous neighbours to the south, or even against the 
Indians still inhabiting the wilds on the shores of the Parana 



308 



APPENDIX. 



beyond the pathless forests of Caaguazu ? Will they not per- 
force ask Brazil to take the little she has left of their habitable 
territory, and annex it as the smallest province of the empire ? 



NUMBER OF PRISONERS EXECUTED. 

The following is a summary of the official list of those executed 
" for treason and rebellion," found amongst the papers of Lopez, 
after his defeat at Lomas Valentinas : 

Foreigners executed . . . .107 

„ died in prison . . .113 

220 

Paraguayans executed . . .176 

„ died in prison . . .88 

264 

Executed August 22, 1868, nationality not 

being expressed . . . .85 

Died {i.e. bayonetted) between San Fernando 

and Pikysyry . . . .27 

112 

Total deaths up to December, 1868 . . . 596 



After that date a great number were executed, nearly all, in 
fact, of those remaining of the original 700 or 800 arrested. 



THE " LAMB ARE." 

This was a newspaper published by the Government in Guarani, 
and interesting as a specimen of that singular language. It was 
a half demy sheet folded in two, and really got up very well. 
On the title-page was a rude woodcut, representing el Cacique 
(Chief) de Lamb are shooting with arrows a triple-headed flying 
dragon with a balloon at the point of its tail, typical, of course, 
of the Triple Alliance. To his left is Mount Lamb are, with a 
puma seated at its foot, the river seemingly flowing to the top 



APPENDIX. 



309 



of it, and a steamer running full tilt at its side : perspective was 
not a strong point with the native artists. In the distance is a 
railway train, and some wonderful palm trees. The title is 
" Lambare. Cuatia nee ybety rusu gui ose bae." (Lambare. 
A speaking- paper, which comes from his hill). 

The greater part of the articles which appeared in it were so 
ferocious in tone, and full of such gross indecencies, that I 
cannot attempt to give a version of them here ; but I append, as 
a specimen of the language, a literal translation of a song 
which appeared in it, Sep. 5th, 1867, omitting a few words. 

Mburahei ose bae ybyty rasue gui (" A song which came from the hill'"*). 



El Cacique Lambare 
I huy ombohacua, 
Opahagua omondoro 
Las cambai rebicua. 

Tounte los camba curu 
Na ne Reta pota hara. 
Rebicua rehe onandu ne 
Upe bendy hae overa ba. 

Lambare heta ete oioiai 
Unri camba byroton 
Por que ndo hecha moairi 
Oipota ete ba 1' Asuncion. 

Oparupi rei ma oiapi 
Ndo icuaabei hembiapo ra 
Icaa pa pota ete maco 
Umi ana rembichyra. 

Oime oho cu iaicuaa bae 
Mb oca rubicha guazu 
Toiopy que tebi Ynacio 
El camba rebicua pucu. 

I mbegiie caraia mbaasy 
Cachimbo hei ba ichupe 
Carumbe hae iatyta 
Ichugui ipyae mibe. 

Oneguahe Curuzugiii 
Opama ramo opoti 
Hae tohoque mombyry 
Umi aha rymba cati, 

* Admiral Ignacio. 



The chief Lambare 
Sharpens his arrows, 
To tear well 

The backs of the negroes* 

Let the itching negroes come 
Who covet our country. 
Their backs they will feel 
Pierced through and through. 

Lambare mocks much 

These black idiots, 

Who, though much they wish it, 

Will never see Asuncion. 

They run from side to side, 
They know not what to do, 
Now is nearly finished their food, 
And the devil is going to roast them. 

He ran away whom we know, 
The great captain of the guns. 

Ignacio* 

You big . . . negro. 

That sick monkey, 
Who is called Cachimbo, f 
The tortoise and the snail 
Go faster than he. 

They fled from Curuzu, 

When all 

Let them go far away 
These stinking beasts of the devil, 
f The Marquis de Caxias. 



310 



APPENDIX. 



Mamo pa oime Caxias 
I curumbe eta ndibe ? 
Mbae giii udo ieraiai 
I caraia eta rehebe ? 



Where is Caxias 
With all his tortoises ? 
Why does he not come 
With, his troop of monkeys ? 



Ma pico Bartolo ypi 
Hae aeo burro monda ete 



What has Bartolo* done, 
And that thieving* ass 
Whom they call Flores, 
Those sons of the devil ? 



Oiee ba ichupe Flore 
Umi aha membyre ? 



Caraia Peru tujape 
Mocdibe omee ogueta 
Hae ogueru oincapa ete 
Umi heta ygna cuera eta. 



To the old monkey Peter f 
Both have sold themselves ; 
And have brought to be killed 
Very many of their countrymen. 



Ibyro co umi aha cuera 
Umicha gua na hahendui 



What fools are these devils ! 
Never has been seen their equals. 
Nero, of old, such as he was, 
Is not to be compared with them ! 



Ni aipo Neron tuia yma 
Abe pe no momboioiai ! 



Umicha gua mborebi pe 
Toho ute leon haro. 
Ta hesai nande Rubicha 
Hae icatu bao ha horaird ! 



With these (creatures) like tapirs, 
Whom the fierce lion pursues. 
Health to our Commander, 
And we will go on fighting ! 



It is worthy of notice that carat, is a man, and caraia, a 
monkey in Guarani ; the latter being a contraction, I expect, of 
carai camba, a black man, or perhaps of carai aba, a hairy man, 
the latter being the most probable. It must be remembered 
that the South-American Indians are brownish, or dark-olive 
skinned, and have no hair on their limbs. 



NOTES ON THE DISEASES OF PABAGUAY. 

In a work intended for general reading I can say but little on 
the diseases of Paraguay, and yet it will be expected that I 
should not pass by this subject altogether. I can mention a few 
of the more serious maladies, without, however, being able to do 
more than allude to the one which was most general, but least 
fatal. 

Affections of the lungs were common, consumption especially 



* Mitre, the President of the Argentine Republic, 
t The Emperor of Brazil. 



APPENDIX. 



311 



so — rather in opposition, by the way, to the theory " that it is 
a disease resulting from extreme civilization and too high breed- 
ing," which I heard taught in one of the first of our medical 
schools a few weeks ago ; pneumonia and influenza were fre- 
quent in the winter, and required, almost constantly, stimulant 
treatment. 

Yellow fever, typhus, enteric fever, were unknown, and cholera 
also until the middle of the war, when it was introduced by the 
Allies ; who imported, likewise, small-pox and, perhaps, measles. 
The latter disease played fearful havoc amongst all classes, for 
the very reason that they had been carefully protected against 
its introduction, so insteai of confining itself to children, as with 
us, and who are less liable to suffer from the complications 
which may attend it, it attacked all ages alike, and cost the lives 
of at least 60,000 persons. 

Affections of the digestive organs, liver complaints, and so 
on, were not common amongst the natives, who were generally 
abstemious; but the English employes of the Government, who, 
as a rule, ate twice as much food as they needed, and, of course, 
drank a good deal more than was good for them, suffered greatly 
from irritation and congestion of those organs. Diarrhoea, 
dysentery, and colic — the latter from eating uncrushed roasted 
maize, and especially from using water-melons as a chief article 
of diet — were common enough ; but if proper regimen could be 
adopted they readily yielded to treatment. 

Ague was prevalent in the marshy districts, and sometimes 
appeared in the capital, if the wind blew long from the west 
(sweeping therefore over the fens of the Gran Chaco), but the 
usual treatment soon cured it. 

I saw a good many cases of goitre ; several amongst females 
of good family, eating wholesome food, living in lofty rooms, 
not drinking snow-water (they often wished they could), living 
on open, sunny plains, where lime was extremely scarce, and 
knowing deep, rocky valleys only by tradition. So none of the 
usual theories will explain its occurrence amongst them ; but, 
on the other hand, it was more common amongst the poorer 



812 



APPENDIX. 



classes, who lived in low, crowded, ill-ventilated huts, and led 
lives of brutish indolence in the forests. Dr. Stewart contri- 
butes the following singular fact to its pathology; he says, 
" When the Paraguayan army invaded Corrientes " (during the 
war with Kosas in 1856), "a considerable number of the men 
were attacked, almost suddenly, by goitre, which disappeared, 
however, almost as suddenly when they returned home." >!c 

It was never accompanied by cretinism ; indeed I cannot 
remember to have seen, or heard of, a single idiot amongst the 
Paraguayans, although insanity of a violent form — which, how- 
ever, always seemed to recognize the existence of police regula- 
tions — was not infrequent. This statement does not clash with 
my theory on page 19 ; the idiotism shown by the Guaiqui 
Indians would be of a totally different kind to that which is 
sometimes associated with goitre. A cretin has never had an 
intellect to lose, that is, a brain structure to evolve it ; the Guai- 
quis have lost the little intellectual power their parents trans- 
mitted to them. The one, I take it, has a deficiency in a 
structural sense, the other in a potential one. But I think the 
association of cretinism with goitre in the relation of cause and 
effect is entirely gratuitous ; they are sometimes found together 
because the same cause may simultaneously produce widely 
different effects by acting at the same time on distinct struc- 
tures or functions, which is obvious enough, but it is surely 
illogical to assume that these effects, therefore, depend upon 
each other, 

That mysterious and repulsive disease, elephantiasis (pachy- 
dermia) was occasionally met with, and all those suffering from 
it were exiled to a remote village in the interior, under the 
mistaken idea that it is contagious. The skin of those suffering 
from it becomes thickened, and, especially that of the face and 
arms, is raised in rough, dark ridges, giving the appearance the 
old writers termed the ' 6 leonine face." All treatment I tried, 
or saw tried by others, failed to relieve it. 

Tetanus was not infrequent, and often seemed to be due 
* Du Graty, La Eepublique de la Paraguay. Bruxelles, 1865. 



APPENDIX. 



313 



to exposure of the body when heated by exercise to the south 
wind, which there is what the north-east is to us. 

However, after this formidable list, I must add that Paraguay 
is one of the healthiest countries in the world, if one will but 
adopt reasonable sanatory precautions : that is to say, live tem- 
perately, wear flannel next the skin, bathe frequently, avoid the 
sun during the hotter part of the day, and keep out of the 
marshy districts. Except the epidemics I have mentioned, there 
was scarcely an ailment which could not be referred either to 
indolence, gluttony, or immorality. " As we are all mortal," 
says John Hunter, " some diseases must necessarily prove fatal;" 
but I am certainly of opinion that one has a better chance of a 
healthy life, and of dying of that malady, not so common with 
us as it might be, called old age, in Paraguay than in England. 
The idea that it is not suited to our constitutions, and that we 
cannot work there as we do here, is an old fallacy ; Englishmen 
do not work there so hard as at home simply because there is 
no need to do it, because wealth may be gained by an amount 
of exertion which here would barely win the necessaries of life ; 
but, at the same time, did they so work the reward would cer- 
tainly repay the industry. 



MR. EDEN'S ACCOUNT. 

t( I, William Eden, went out to Paraguay in 1861, under con- 
tract for three years to take charge of the saw-mills, and took 
my wife with me. When my time had expired I wished to 
leave the country, but was not allowed to do so ; however, I 
was pretty well treated until the Brazilians came up and bom- 
barded Asuncion, in February, 1868. The town was then cleared 
out, but we and nearly all the English took refuge in the United 
States Legation, as we had permission to do from Colonel 
Fernandez. There we were tolerably comfortable until the 
following May, when the police commenced annoying us, and 



314 



PPENDIX. 



sentries were posted all round the house. Lopez wished us to 
return to work, and ordered us to do so, but, as we thought he 
would not dare to touch us in the house of the American 
minister, we refused to do so, although we were glad enough 
to do it afterwards. On the 11th of July Mr. Washburn was 
written to about turning us into the streets, and, as he had no 
means of protecting us, he at once did so. There were there 
three Englishmen besides myself, John Watts, George Miles, 
and William Newton (the rest had thought it safer to leave the 
capital as ordered), with their wives and children, also two 
widows and several orphans. 

" In the street we were at once taken into custody by a lot of 
policemen with drawn swords, and marched down to the railway 
station, where they kept us prisoners, and huddled together in 
a corner of the waiting-room for eight days. Then we were 
taken to a place called San Lorenzo, about ten miles off, 
and put all together in a mud hut about twelve feet square, but 
they let me and my wife sleep outside, under cover of a piece 
of old carpet we had wrapped round one of our boxes. About 
midnight three men with drawn swords came and dragged John 
Watts out of the hut, bound his arms behind him with strips 
of hide, and marched him away, leaving his wife and four poor 
children in a dreadful state of mind. We never saw him again, 
and heard some time afterwards that he had been shot. A fort- 
night later, Mrs. Watts asked Miles and Newton to break open 
her box for her, because her husband had taken the keys with 
him, and she wanted some money and clothes out of it. This 
was seen by one of our guards, and a few hours afterwards they 
and I were taken away, and put in prison, as they called it, but 
we were kept in the open air, and put in the stocks at night. 
In four days' time the chief of police and a priest came and called 
me on one side, and, after a few questions, told me I could 
return home as I had not helped to break open the box. Thus 
I learnt for the first time why we had been treated so badly. 
My companions remained as prisoners in the open air for eleven 
weeks longer. My wife took charge of Mr. Newton's children, 



APPENDIX. 



315 



and we daily sent food for him and Miles, or they would soon 
have died from starvation. After this they left us alone for 
some time, but we were ordered not to speak to any of the 
natives, and not to go near their houses ; and we were con- 
stantly watched. During this time the foreigners who were 
living near us became fewer every day, and we often saw pri- 
soners being taken away, sitting sideways on mules, with heavy 
irons on their legs. 

" On the 5th of December, 1868, we were suddenly ordered 
to go to Luque, to the police-office there. We went, and I was 
asked as to which part of the country I wished to go. I told 
them that I knew nothing about the country, for I was a 
stranger there, and they gave me a passport to go to Piribubuy, 
on the other side of the mountains. The officer told me we 
could go by train as far as the line was finished, but they made 
us pay heavily for it, and it took us two days to get to the 
nearest part of it; however, it helped us on thirty miles or so, 
and we were put down at a place called Tacuaral. We saw a 
great many wounded Paraguayans brought to it ; they were in 
a most horrible condition, but no one appeared to pay any atten- 
tion to their wounds or to them. There we remained for ten 
days in the open air, without even a tree to shelter us, nothing 
but the long grass and bushes. We offered to pay anything 
they pleased for a cart to take our things on, but all the carretas 
and bullocks had been taken away for the use of the army ; at 
last an order came to go on immediately, as the enemy was 
close upon us. There were several thousand fugitives, besides 
ourselves, of all nations, and when the order came, each took 
up as much as could be carried, and we hurried away like a flock 
of sheep. I paid some native women fifty dollars for carrying 
my things across a swamp, and after four days' toil we reached 
the great lake of Ipacarai, which is at the foot of the mountains. 
We crossed it at a shallow part, in a barge which was pushed 
along by eight stout, naked, young women, who splashed through 
the water nearly up to their necks ; they made lots of money 
that day, for they charged five dollars apiece for taking us over. 



316 



APPENDIX. 



In that journey I saw misery enough to break the heart of a 
savage ; the road was strewn with dead and dying people, and 
there was no one to help them. 

' ' By good fortune I met with a small bullock-cart, and hired 
it for thirty dollars to take our boxes over the mountains to a 
place called Atira. My wife and I went on foot, but when we got 
there the owner of it would go no further ; so I went to the 
chief to ask him to let us have another, but he ordered us to go 
on at once ; that, however, was impossible, and we kept out of 
sight for four days, and spent our Christmas in a wretched shed, 
in a torrent of rain which lasted nearly forty-eight hours, and 
we had scarcely anything to eat. 

" There we were all scattered, and I was not allowed to go 
with the rest of my countrymen ; at last I hired another cart for 
fifty dollars, and I bought a horse to help us over the bad 
places in the road, which was only a rough, rocky path through 
the forests and marshes. 

" After two days' toil we arrived at our destination, having 
been twenty-five days altogether on our journey. At Piribubuy 
we found Mr. Yalpy and Mr. Burrell, civil engineers, who were 
very kind to us, and sent us food as soon as they heard of our 
starving condition. 

" The village was full of people, of all nationalities, and in a 
dreadful state of destitution and disease. I got permission to 
live in a half-ruined house about two miles from it, with some 
natives, and stopped there until the end of May. We suffered 
great privations and hardships, two of my companions died 
literally from want ; they had been rich men before the war 
commenced, but they had been robbed by Lopez of everything 
they possessed. My horse was taken from me when I had been 
there three weeks, and I had to go on foot nearly every day to 
the village through the sun or rain, sometimes to report myself 
to the police, at other times to try and buy food, but I often 
went back to my wife hungry and empty-handed with 
the money in my pocket ; she was laid up with rheumatic 
fever, and her feet were badly wounded in walking over 



APPENDIX. 



317 



the mountains, and then I was struck down with fever and 
ague. 

" At last, to save our lives, my wife determined to go to 
Madame Lynch, and ask her to intercede with Lopez to take me 
back to my employment ; she received her very kindly, and 
gave her some little comforts which gold could not have bought, 
for which I shall always feel deeply grateful to her, for I believe 
they saved our lives. 

" After some delay I returned to work at the new arsenal in 
Caacupe, but had a very hard time of it ; we had very long 
hours, very little to eat, and only half our pay. But I, and the 
English generally, was well off compared with the wretched 
natives, and especially the poor prisoners of war, who were 
made to work there day and night, and the horrible treatment 
they received was shocking beyond expression. 

6 ' The people, too, were nearly all naked and starving, and 
died by hundreds, so that at last the few living were not 
strong enough to bury the dead, and they lay about in the fields 
and by the roadside just as they fell, and I have often driven off 
the vultures from their horrid meal when going to and from my 
work. Sometimes a few of them would try to get away to the 
Brazilians on the other side, but they were almost always caught, 
and then were flogged nearly to death, and afterwards tied to 
stakes or speared as a warning to the others ; both men and 
women were served in this way. Once, as I was going to work, 
a Paraguayan I knew called me to see them execute a young 
man I was well acquainted with. There he stood, poor fellow, 
with heavy irons on his legs, by the side of an open grave; they 
put a cloth over his eyes, and then pulled off his poncho, and I 
saw that his back was almost cut to pieces, and a moment after- 
wards, to my horror, they plunged their lances through his body, 
then they knocked off his fetters and threw him into the grave. 
I asked the man who called me what his offence was, and he 
said only trying to go where he could get something to eat. 

" But I am sick of these horrors ; I could not tell in a week of 
one half of the wretchedness and cruelty I witnessed in Paraguay. 



318 



APPENDIX. 



But they came to an end for me on the 15th of August, 1869, 
when we were rescued at the last moment by the Brazilians. 
I never thought I should have come out alive, but God, in His 
great mercy, preserved my wife and me through it all." 



The account given by Mr. Newton is substantially the same 
as the above, and, therefore, there is no need to trouble my 
readers by reproducing it. 



EXPLANATION OF GUABANI NAMES OF PLACES, ETC. 



Aguape, Victoria Begia lily. 

Agaapei, a lake or river covered 
with that plant. 

Apd, slow, a river so called. 

Caa, a tree or plant, grass. 

Caaguazii, the great wood. 

Caapucu, long grass. 

Caranddk, a palm. 

Carandaifi, a palm forest. 

Curiipdi, an acacia, with a very 
astringent bark. 

Curupaiti, the acacia forest. 

Caraguatd, a bromelia, wild pine- 
apple. 

Caraguatdi, the river of ditto. 
Cambdi, river Negro. 
Curuzu, a cross. 
Gudsu, a deer. 

Guasuvird, deer-areca, a palm so 
called. 



Guazu, big, great. 
Guird, a bird. 
Hob\, green, blue. 
Hu, black. 

J or Y feu J, water, a river. 
Mz , michi, mimi, miti, little. 
Moroti, white. 
Mbuyapei, Bread Biver. 
Nembucit, ababbler,agreattalker. 
Pucu, long. 
Pond, poa, beautiful. 
Piri, rushes, sedges. 
Piribebui, the rushy marsh. 
Pegudho, a deep morass. 
Para, the sea. 
Parana, like the sea. 
Para, spotted. 
Tacudra, bamboo. 
Tacuari, Bamboo Biver. 
Tebicuari, the name of a river.* 



* The meaning of this word is rather amusingly explained by Senor Angelis, 
thus : " Tebi es una parte innoble del cuerpo humano, qua, es agujero, e i agua 
b rio, y por consiguiente. agua que sale de un manantial qui se parece a lo que 
expresan las demas palabras" ! 



APPENDIX. 



319 



Tobati, white face. Ytdpe, a flat stone. 

Tay\ lapacho, a tree. Ytacud, a moving stone. 

Yaguaron, the hill of the tiger. Ytapud, an elevated rock. 

Yberd, shining water. Ybtcai, sand. 

Ypoa, beautiful water. Yuqui, salt. 

Ypitd, Red River. Ybitimi, a pile of earth. 

Ytd, or itd j a stone. 

In Spanish y is exchangeable with i, and proper names requir- 
ing a capital are usually spelt with it ; but Ybicui may be written 
Ibicui if preferred. 

I should be taking up too much space if I were to enter into 
any examination of this singular and most complex language, 
but it has one peculiarity I ought to mention ; some few words, 
generally expressive of affection or surprise, are reserved for the 
use of the women ; a man would be laughed at if he were to 
make use of them. It is highly probable that this idiom is the 
result of the fusion of two languages, one of which belonged to 
a conquered and forgotten race. 

Curia, a woman, means loose-tongue. Canatai, a girl, tender, 
loose-tongue. Gunacarai, an old woman, is composed of the 
same word, and carai, a man. 



STEWART v. GELOT. 

There is an incident connected somewhat intimately with the 
life of Lopez, and, illustrating as it does his unscrupulous and 
avaricious character, well worth recording here, although the 
facts are probably still fresh in the public mind. On the 21st 
of December, 1869, the case of Stewart v. Gelot was tried at 
Edinburgh, before the Lord Justice-Clerk and a special jury, 
the plaintiff seeking to remove the attachment of a sum of 
£5,000 standing to his credit in a private bank. 

The facts deposed to during the trial are these : in Dec, 1866, 
Lopez was seriously ill, and he affected to believe that he had 
had improper medicines administered to him by his medical 



320 



APPENDIX. 



attendants ; he accordingly summoned Dr. Stewart, who was 
then Director-General of the Medical Department, to his quarters, 
and told him, amid a torrent of invective, that he (Stewart) was 
trying to poison him, and that he should have him tried by 
court-martial for the capital offence. The doctor, who had 
the reputation of being as rich as he is charitable and kind- 
hearted, and who had married a native lady of some wealth and 
considerable personal attractions, left the presence of Lopez in 
a state of mind which I can fully realize, but which to anyone 
unacquainted with the state of affairs in Paraguay would seem 
very unnecessary alarm, seeing that he was perfectly innocent 
of the crime in question. Shortly afterwards, Madame Lynch 
sent for him, and said, " Oh, doctor, I am afraid that the Presi- 
dent is going to do something for which I shall never forgive 
him." Which was by no means reassuring, and then, after a 
few words of sympathy, very significantly asked him for a bill 
for £4,000 on an English house. He hesitated a little, but, see- 
ing the evident connection between the threat and the bill, con- 
sented to give it ; but she spoke no more of it until the following 
May, when she reminded him of 1 his promise. At that time the 
pretended charges against him were revived, and his wife, also, 
was charged with " want of patriotism," which was the usual 
prelude to arrest, perhaps death. 

The bill bore on the face of it, as usual, that it was for value 
received, but Dr. Stewart never received one farthing on account 
of it ; Madame Lynch, it is true, promised to send him the 
money, but, knowing perfectly well that if he took it the 
charge against him would be renewed, he never asked for it. 
Besides, his estates had by that time been stripped of nearly 
every head of cattle he possessed, not only without one dollar 
compensation from the Government, but without even saying, 
" By your leave," or getting any acknowledgment for them; 
and accepting any money would, probably, only have led to the 
coin he possessed in Paraguay taking the same road as his herds 
had done. 

In October, 1868, whilst I was still at Yilleta, H.M. gunboat 



APPENDIX. 



321 



"Beacon" came up to Angusfcura, and, as Lopez was anxious 
to prove to the outside world that he was one of the justest of 
men, he gave permission to some of his English prisoners to 
remit money home, and also to write letters to their friends, 
which he was kind enough to read and revise before they were 
sent, describing how happy and contented they were (Mr. Tay- 
lor, by the way, had that gratification amongst others), and how 
sorry they should be to leave the service of Marshal Lopez. 
At the same time, he told Dr. Stewart that he might send away 
a few thousand dollars, and asked him to transmit £11,000 of 
his own to England, but in Stewart's name. This was done, 
and Dr. Stewart wrote a letter, which I read with great pain 
and regret recently, in which he also described everything in 
Paraguay in couleur de rose, and directed his brother (at Gala- 
shiels) to honour the bill enclosed, but so ambiguously that he 
would be sure not to do so. 

The battle of Ita-Yvate soon followed, in which Dr. Stewart 
was taken prisoner as he was trying to keep a few men 
together and to help the wounded. He was taken before 
Caxias, who at once sent him to Asuncion to look, after the 
Paraguayan wounded. "Now," says our Englishman, who 
has never been in Paraguay, "he at once writes home, tells his 
brother that his previous letter was composed for the purpose 
of hoodwinking Lopez, and stops payment of the bill." He 
dared do nothing of the kind ! his wife and three children were 
in the hands of the tyrant, and their lives would pay for any 
indiscretion of his ; the war might last for years longer, and 
Lopez's good friend, General Mc Mahon, who had not yet been 
able to convey the money he had been entrusted with to Paris, 
would take care to let him know if the bill had been paid ; and • 
why should he peril their lives for such ends ? Lopez ^ however, 
anticipated the fault by its punishment ; he had Stewart de- 
nounced in the " Semanario," as a deserter and a traitor; his 
wife was arrested and treated with the same barbarity, in all 
save the application of torture, as the rest of the prisoners ; she 
lay six weeks in the summer sun, had to sell her clothes 

21 



322 



APPENDIX. 



to buy food, and yet was almost starved to death. Then, 
as some stir was made about her by Commander Parsons, 
she was released, and was rescued by the Allies after the flight 
from Caacupe. I am glad to add, for she is one of the most 
esteemed of my native friends, that she is now safe and well in 
Asuncion, but one of her children is dead. 

Dr. Stewart came on to England, never expecting to see his 
wife again, but leaving one of his brothers in Asuncion to receive 
her if she should escape, and found that the bill had been paid 
by the agent of Lopez to a certain Mons. Grelot, of Paris, and 
that payment of it had been refused by his brother. Thereupon 
Gelot attaches the money lying to the credit of Dr. Stewart, and 
hence the action. 

Now the cattle taken from the estancias of Dr. Stewart were 
worth some £20,000. Lopez seized the whole of his plate, 
money, and the jewellery of his wife, when the latter was ar- 
rested, and I have no doubt that the bulk of it is at this moment 
in Paris. Therefore, Dr. Stewart claims the £11,000 he sent 
from Paraguay for Lopez in part payment of the amount due to 
him ; and I most sincerely hope, and I am sure that everyone 
who believes what I have written, and which was told me by 
Lieut. -Col. Thompson, C.E., and by Mr. Valpy, who were 
with Dr. Stewart at Humaita at the time, will echo my wish, 
that he may keep it. 

At the trial I gave an account of the state of the ceuntry, and 
the reign of terror prevailing there, and my evidence was fully 
confirmed by Mons. Laurent- Cochelet, late charge d'affaires in 
Paraguay, now French Consul in Glasgow, by Mr. Burrell, and 
Mr. Yalpy, who spoke also to the main question. It is not worth 
' while to reproduce the evidence, so I quote only the summing 
up of the Lord Justice-Clerk, which gives it en precis. 

The Lord Justice-Clerk said,'" " He would very shortly bring 
before them what appeared to him the points most deserving of 
consideration as to the matter of law expressed in the issues . What 
he had to say was this, that in regard to the first part of the first 
* From the Edinburgh Evening Courant. 



APPENDIX. 



323 



issue, an obligation obtained through force and fear was by the 
law a nullity, seeing all obligations required consent of the parties 
thereto. A subscription to a bill of exchange was a mode of 
giving that consent, but a subscription obtained by force and 
fear was not, and could not be, an indication of consent, nor 
constitute any obligation against the subscriber. That, he main- 
tained, was well settled in their law. But in order to have that 
legal remedy, the force and fear must be considerable in degree. 
It had been defined as that amount of apprehension which would 
shake the nerves of a constant man, but they could easily 
imagine without any very precise definition what the law really 
required for that purpose. It must be considerable, and with 
reasonable apprehension of grave results. In the second place, 
the danger must be present and imminent, for mere apprehen- 
sion of possible contingencies would not be sufficient ; and in 
the third place, it must be a highly conducive cause of the obliga- 
tion. In regard to the second half of the issue — whether Dr. 
Stewart granted the bill without having received any value 
therefor, it was truly a question of fact, and for the sole con- 
sideration of the jury. In regard to the second issue, the 
counsel on either side had agreed that the jury should return a 
special verdict, the effect of which he would read before they 
retired. The second question in the issue, as to whether there 
was any value given for the bill, had considerable bearing on 
! the first, namely, whether the bill had been obtained by force 
and fear. ' As to the construction put upon the present made by 
I Lopez to Dr. Stewart of yerba, he said that, in the first place, 
i the jury must be satisfied whether Lopez and Madame Lynch 
. were really to be viewed as identical in the transaction, but 
| even if it were so, there was no evidence whatever that this 
yerba was at all connected with the transaction in question. A 
great deal of light was thrown on the granting of the bill itself 
by a letter of Dr. Stewart which was read by Mr. Watson ; and 
he was inclined to agree with him, that whatever might be the 
effect of that letter, it was not sufficient to say that it was written 
with a view to elude Lopez's inspection in the event of that 



324 



APPENDIX. 



letter being intercepted. It rather appeared to him that that 
consideration could not be put upon it. It was a letter sent by 
a private hand, entering very fully and freely into what the 
writer had been doing ; but while, on the one hand, he thought 
they might give reasonable credit to the allegations made by 
Dr. Stewart in this letter as being true ; and, on the other hand, 
while it entirely negatived the idea that Dr. Stewart himself had 
received value for the bill, it showed the footing on which 
Madame Lynch had asked for it and obtained it. Apparently 
that, as disclosed in the letter, was that she would give good 
security and good interest ; that she had offered money itself, 
but that Dr. Stewart had told her it was of no use. If that were 
the state of matters, there was an end to the question of value. 
It was one thing to grant a bill in consideration of money re- 
ceived, and it was quite another to help a friend to send a 
remittance out of the country in the prospect and expectation of 
security. These were two totally different things, and if the 
last were true, it was quite clear that there was no value at all. 
But in that letter Dr. Stewart said Mrs. Lynch was the most 
unprincipled woman he ever knew, and that he almost blushed 
to tell that he gave her the bill solely for the purpose of gaining, 
if not her friendship, at least that she might not be hostile. 
Whatever effect, therefore, the promise of security might have 
had, if that letter was to be taken as containing a true state- 
ment of the transaction, it must be taken in all its parts. But 
in addition to that, they had had one or two points of evidence 
on this matter. They had it, in the first place, proved that al- 
though the bill had been granted on the 8th July, 1867, in a 
quite ambiguous manner, Dr. Stewart wrote to his brother, at 
Buenos Ayres, to tell his brother Kobert, at Galashiels, not to 
accept the bill. Of course, he must have been aware, if that 
had been the case, any damage to which he had been exposed 
in Paraguay would have been tenfold increased. That being 
the state of the case, if it were held no value was given, the 
question was, why was it granted ? The pursuer said it was 
granted by him under force and fear. The suggestion on the 



APPENDIX. 



325 



other side was that it was not granted through force and fear, 
but that Dr. Stewart, in the circumstances in which he stood, was 
willing to do a favour to Madame Lynch, and granted the bill 
for that purpose. The facts appeared to be plain enough, in the 
first place, that the bill was wanted to pay a debt of Madame 
Lynch's, and that she had no means of getting money out of 
the country, except by a person in Dr. Stewart's position, who 
had funds abroad. That was the reason of its being granted. 
Then the next question was, had Dr. Stewart any interest to 
grant that bill ? He had, in that view, nothing whatever to gain 
by it, and the question the jury were to put to themselves was, 
apart from the private testimony, did they believe Dr. Stewart 
would voluntarily have granted this bill if there had not been 
some inducing cause outside ? They had to consider whether 
that inducing cause was force and fear, not a mere vague appre- 
hension, but a reasonable, strong, and imminent fear of imme- 
diate consequences. There were some matters on which there 
need really be no discussion. There was no doubt the country 
of Paraguay was ruled by despotism. Lopez, whatever his 
character, was absolute ; in regard to Madame Lynch's relations 
with him there could be no dispute or doubt, and notwithstand- 
ing the evidence of General Mc Mahon, he thought he himself in 
reality had as little doubt. She was not his wife, but mistress. 
She had been so for years, and she had a great deal of influence 
over him, and it was for the jury to say whether they would 
trust the evidence in which she was described as a tyrant and 
dangerous. That being the state of matters, and there being 
little doubt also of the cruelty and violence of Lopez himself 
on many occasions, he did not go into the evidence of the two 
American ministers, except to make this remark, that Mr. Wash- 
burn had by far the largest opportunity of observing the state of 
the country, and there seemed to have been a certain amount 
of political jealousy and disagreement between the representa- 
tives of the United States. Whether that was enough to 
account for the different views they took of these particular 
persons was a matter the jury might consider, but he did not 



326 



APPENDIX. 



think they would dwell much on the abstract position of the 
kingdom of Paraguay. It was a more important matter for 
them to consider whether force was the inducing cause of Dr. 
Stewart's action. He was not inclined, on account of the 
state of the country of Paraguay, to lay down all the transactions 
between Lopez and Dr. Stewart to fear. What the pursuer had 
undertaken to prove was specific force as applicable to this specific 
transaction, and the question was whether he had done so. They 
were aware how the bill was originally applied for. It was 
said that Madame Lynch, at a subsequent period offered 
security ; and it was also equally clear that she at first asked Dr. 
Stewart to grant this bill without mentioning any security what- 
ever. Dr. Stewart stated that at that time he was in danger of 
his life, and when the matter was subsequently renewed, he 
was even in greater danger. Previous to that, however, he 
talked the matter over with his friend Mr. Valpy, the engineer, 
and asked his advice. That is a most important piece of cor- 
roborative evidence, which, I think, there is no reason to 
disbelieve. It shows that this act was not done by the free will 
of Dr. Stewart, but for the purpose of preventing hostility from 
Madame Lynch, and the provocation he had reason to fear might 
on the least provocation be turned against him through Lopez, 
entailing the most serious consequences to him. That portion 
of Dr. Stewart's evidence was uncontradicted which went to 
show that, apart from Lopez, his life was to a large extent in 
the power of Madame Lynch. If they believed in the particular 
circumstances, as stated, under which the bill was granted, 
there could be no doubt as to what the inducing cause was. 
They would recollect that, had the pursuer fallen under Lopez's 
displeasure, it was not a matter alone of honour and position, 
but, from the example of many others, it was a matter of life 
and death in its most literal sense. There was one part of the 
case which was deserving of their most careful consideration. 
Supposing it were true that in May, 1867, this bill was obtained 
by Madame Lynch through the elements contained in the issue, 
it was stated on the part of the defender that a year and a half 



APPENDIX. 



327 



afterwards a transaction of a somewhat peculiar kind had taken 
place. In October, 1868, Lopez sent for Dr. Stewart, and con- 
sulted him as to the best means of sending specie out of the 
country, and the result of the conversation was that he entrusted 
no less a sum of money than £12,000 to Dr. Stewart, to be con- 
veyed out of the country to Scotland, trusting to Dr. Stewart's 
discretion and honesty entirely, and taking no acknowledgment 
from him of any kind. It was impossible to say that that trans- 
action did not throw a certain light on the transactions between 
Lopez and Dr. Stewart. It was possible that in that year they 
had come to be on more friendly terms than they were during 
the year before. There could be no doubt but that the specie 
had been given, and that the money had been sent through Dr. 
Stewart's brother at Buenos Ayres to the Koyal Bank of Scot- 
land, where it still lay. The specie realized £16,000. Of this 
£3,000 belonged to Dr. Stewart and Dr. Skinner, and the 
remainder admittedly belonged to Lopez. It is said that the 
pursuer wrote a letter to his brother, directing him to apply 
£4,000 of the money, which was admittedly the property of 
Lopez, in payment of that bill ; and on receiving that letter the 
brother wrote to Monsieur Gelot to tell him that he had received 
such instructions, and meant to fulfil them. If the jury were 
satisfied that the instruction was sent by Lopez, he was not in 
a position to tell them that they were not entitled to give effect 
to that. There could be no doubt at all that whatever might 
have been the tyranny and arbitrary power of Lopez, if he en- 
trusted this money to Dr. Stewart to be used for his (Lopez's) 
use, and Dr. Stewart undertook to do so, then Dr. Stewart was 
bound to fulfil his obligation. It is not so much a matter of 
law as a matter of common sense. If that be the fact, then 
Lopez was entitled to require Dr. Stewart to apply it as he 
(Lopez) might direct. As to the second issue, the counsel had 
agreed that the jury should return a special verdict. He was 
glad that that course had been adopted, as no little difficulty had 
been thereby removed. In the event of the jury agreeing to 
return a special verdict, he had drawn up the following, which 



328 



APPENDIX. 



they could consider : " The jury find that the bill mentioned 
in the second issue was received by the defender in payment of 
a debt previously due to him by Madame Lynch, and that no 
fresh credit was given or advance of money made by the defender 
on the faith of that bill ; and the jury leave it to the Court to 
enter a verdict for the pursuer or defender according as they 
may be of opinion whether on these facts, taken in connection 
with their verdict on the first issue, the defender was or was 
not the onerous and bona fide holder of the bill, and entitled to 
recover the amount from the pursuer." Of course it was only 
in the event of their coming to a verdict in favour of the pur- 
suer on the first issue that this special verdict would be required. 
For if they were of opinion that this bill was not obtained 
through force or fear, but granted in the ordinary course, then 
beyond all question the defender would stand in the position of 
onerous and bona fide holder of the bill. 

After the lapse of an hour the jury returned into court. 

The Lord Justice- Clerk said: "Gentlemen, you have ex- 
pressed a wish to know whether, when Dr. Stewart directed 
payment of the bill in 1868, he was in precisely the same cir- 
cumstances as when he originally granted it. That is a ques- 
tion in the evidence of which you are judges. It is said he 
wrote the letter as he granted the bill, under force and fear, but 
it will not fail, I think, to strike you that the circumstances 
were by no means the same. In the one case, the bill was a 
matter in which, on the evidence, the pursuer had no concern 
or interest, and you may make that an element in considering 
the question whether it was granted through fear. In the 
second case, if you are of opinion that Lopez concurred in that 
use of his money, things were very different, for then he was 
the custodier of money which belonged to Lopez. Before 
arriving at any conclusion on this point they should satisfy 
themselves as to whether Lopez was cognizant of and concurred 
in that application of his money. Because, otherwise, if it was 
merely Madame Lynch, and not Lopez, then there would not be 
the amount of difference in the circumstances that there would 
be on the other side." 



APPENDIX. 



329 



The jury retired shortly after three o'clock ; and after three 
hours' absence returned a verdict for the pursuer on the first 
issue, and in terms of the special verdict read by the Lord 
Justice-Clerk in his charge on the second issue. 

The defendant has applied for leave for a new trial, on the 
score that the verdict was against the evidence ; the judges in 
Banco have agreed to grant it on condition that new facts not 
shown at the trial are brought forward, for on the question of 
intimidation and non-receipt of value there can be no doubt : 
and so the matter stands. 



I have only at the last moment before going to press re- 
ceived the particulars of the treatment suffered by Major von 
Versen in Paraguay, or I should have inserted it in its proper 
place ; for a better example of the capricious cruelty of Lopez 
could scarcely be met with, nor, at the same time, could a more 
facile proof of its reality be afforded to those who still look 
upon the Dictator, either as a general or a generous man, than 
a reference by letter to Major Yersen himself. 

In 1866 the fame of the gallant defence of the Paraguayans 
had reached Prussia ; and Major von Yersen, then on the per- 
sonal staff of the commander-in-chief, was so struck with the 
indomitable courage displayed by them, and, what seemed to 
be, the admirable generalship of Lopez, that he applied to the 
King of Prussia for permission to go out to the seat of war, in 
order to study the tactics which produced results so extraordi- 
nary. The permission was given, and his Majesty furnished 
him with credentials to the Government of Paraguay, recom- 
mending him to its protection, and explaining the objects of his 
visit. 

In July of the following year he reached the camp of the 
Allies, but was not allowed to pass beyond their lines. Watch- 
ing, however, for a favourable opportunity, he succeeded in 
eluding the vigilance of their outposts, and gained the camp of 
the Paraguayans at Paso Pucu in safety. He was there, as he 
expected, at once taken prisoner, deprived of his horse, and, by 
the officer in charge of the picket, Captain Miguel Rojas, con- 



330 



APPENDIX. 



ducted to the quarters of General Resquin, who commanded. 
After being carefully searched, he was taken within the hut, 
where he found the general himself, the bishop, General Barrios, 
and Colonel Caminos, the latter the official secretary of Lopez. 
He was asked who he was, and why he had come into their 
camp. In reply, he gave them his name, and referred them 
to his credentials for further information, as he wished to ex- 
plain matters more fully to Lopez himself, to whose presence 
he desired them to conduct him. They laughed in his face, told 
him that he was a spy and his letter a forgery, and left him 
under guard whilst the result of his examination was reported 
to the Dictator. Now, Major von Versen has one venial weak- 
ness : he believes in homoeopathy. He had a case of the harm- 
less little globules in his pocket, and enclosed in it a note in 
German of their doses and uses. These were exhibited to 
Lopez, who professed to discover in them a plot to destroy his 
own life and poison his officers, and to believe that the hundreds- 
and-thousands — as children of tender years used to call them — 
really possessed the terrible qualities the names on the neat little 
tubes indicated. His medical officers were at once summoned, 
and asked if arsenic, aconite, etc., were not venenos atroces. " Of 
course they are," said one of them, whilst a shudder, initiated 
by the bishop, ran through the circle of listeners. " But," con- 
tinued another, pointing contemptuously to the globules, " if 
your Excellency thinks those are poisons, I will swallow the 
whole of them at once, to prove their perfect inertness." 

Lopez reddened, and dismissing the too-zealous allopathist, 
sent the manuscript directions to a German, then in the camp, 
to translate it, and afterwards to two others successively in the 
capital, in order to test the truth of the first version. The 
result was, of course, simply absurd, but, still refusing to 
believe in the bona fide intentions of von Yersen, he kept him 
a prisoner, and refused to admit him to his presence. His treat- 
ment, however, was not so severe as that suffered by many 
others ; he was allowed to keep his money and to walk around his 
hut under guard ; but six weeks afterwards he fell dangerously 



APPENDIX. 



331 



ill with dysentery, from bad food and bitter disappointment, 
and was sent to the hospital. He was there when Mr. Gould 
visited Paso Pucu, and that gentleman, on his return to Buenos 
Ayres, informed von Gulich, the Prussian minister there, of the 
treatment he was enduring; who thereupon wrote to Lopez, 
assuring him that von Yersen was all that he professed to be, 
and begging that he might be at once set at liberty. This letter 
was sent through the lines, but not the slightest attention was 
paid to it. In March, 1868, he was sent to the calabozo of 
Humaita, and afterwards, with the rest of the prisoners, made 
the terrible journey to San Fernando by the Chaco route ; for- 
tunately, however, he still had a few English sovereigns left, 
and by their means induced some of the stronger of his com- 
panions in misfortune to carry him when his own strength gave 
out, and he thus escaped the thrust with a bayonet which ter- 
minated the life of so many amongst them. Shortly after the 
arrival of the staff on the banks of the Tebicuari, Dr. Stewart 
was seated in his hut with Captain C. H. Thompson, when 
Major Yersen was brought to him to ask for some medicine, 
and a more affecting sight can scarcely be imagined. He was 
emaciated to the last degree, his clothes were in rags, and his 
features shrunken with misery and starvation. Dr. Stewart 
made a sign to his servant to treat the guards to get them out 
of earshot, and then gave the poor fellow a cup of coffee and a 
loaf of chepa; he eagerly swallowed the former, and raising his 
eyes to Heaven whilst the tears ran down his cheeks, prayed 
the Almighty to bless the man who had again preserved his 
life. >: ' Dr. Stewart was afterwards able to supply him occa- 
sionally, but at great risk to himself, with food, and he lived 
through all the misery at Yilleta until he was rescued by the 
Brazilians at Caacupe. 

Now this story would lore half its force from any com- 
mentary of mine, and I will only recommend anyone who 

* He lately sent a handsome silver coffee-service to Dr. Stewart, " In remem- 
brance," he wrote, " of the cup of ccffee you gave me, and to which, and your 
kindness, I owe my life." 



332 



APPENDIX. 



may desire fuller information concerning it to write to Major 
von Versen, Posen, Prussia, where he is now doing duty. 



Note to page 26. 
One of these so-called spies was a' Paraguayan named Juan 
Gonzales ; he had left the country some time before the war 
without applying for a passport, and had settled in Corrientes. 
He was taken by the conscription into the Argentine army ; and 
was captured by a party of his countrymen, when on sentry 
duty one night, on the left bank of the Parana. Lopez wanted 
a pretext for putting him to death as a deserter, and he was 
flogged until he " confessed" that he intended to assassinate 
the President, and that he had swam across the Parana, there 
about five miles wide, with a loaded musket held sometimes in 
one hand, and then in his teeth, for that purpose ! He was 
stripped naked and thrown into the tiger's cage in the presence 
of a crowd of Paraguayans. 

Note to page 28. 
My translation of Tuyuyu is incorrect, I find, but it was the 
explanation a native gave me. The word really means white-mud. 

Note to page 95. 
This was the story as it appeared in the Argentine news- 
papers, and which is repeated by Thompson. But I am 
assured that it is not true. Leandro Gomez, the ofiicer in 
question, was anxious to return to his own people, and asked 
the Brazilian commander to allow him to do so ; he was warned 
that it was dangerous to attempt such a step ; but he persisted, 
and presented himself at the Oriental head-quarters; there he 
was arrested and shot, with another ofiicer, by a commander 
who had had some private quarrel with him. 

Note to page 187, line 17. 
I believed this story until lately, but am now convinced that 
my informant had mistaken. 



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II. 

ABOUT IN THE WORLD. Essays by the Author of (: The 

Gentle Life." 

" It is not easy to open it at any page without finding some happy idea ." 
— Morning Post. 

III. 

LIKE UNTO CHRIST. A new translation of the " De Imita- 

tione Christi," usually ascribed to Thomas a Kempis. With a Vignette 
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FAMILIAR WORDS. An Index Verborum, or Quotation 

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List of Publications. 



7 



VII. 

THE GENTLE LIFE. Second Series. Third Edition. 

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VARIA : Readings from Rare Books. Reprinted, by permis- 
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available to the general reader" — Observer. 

IX. 

A CONCORDANCE OR VERBAL INDEX to the whole of 

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" By the admirers of Milton the book will be highly appreciated, but its 
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word-book of the English language " — Record. 

X. 

THE SILENT HOUR : Essays, Original and Selected. By 
the Author of " The Gentle Life." Second. Edition. 

" Out of twenty Essays five are from the Editor's pen, and he has se- 
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ESSAYS ON ENGLISH WRITERS, for the Self-improve- 

ment of Students in English Literature. 

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Second Edition. 

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8 



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LITERATURE, WORKS OF REFERENCE, ETC. 

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*#* Volume II. from 1857 in Preparation. 

Outlines of Moral Philosophy. By Dugald Stewart, Professor 
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Art in England. Essays by Dutton Cook. Small post 8vo. 

cloth, 6s. 

A Dictionary of Photography, on the Basis of Sutton's Dictionary. 
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A Catalogue of a Selection of Works in the French, German, 
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10 



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Our New Way Round the World. Two Years of Travel by 

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/ 




List of Publications. 



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The Voyage of the Constance ; a tale of the Polar Seas. By 
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The Rob Roy on the Baltic. By the same Author. 5s. 
Sailing Alone ; or, ] ,500 Miles Voyage in the Yawl Rob Roy. By the 

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Golden Hair; a Tale of the Pilgrim Fathers. By Sir Lascelles Wraxall. 5s. 
Black Panther : a Boy's Adventures amongst the Red Skins. By the 

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14 



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Jacob and Joseph, and the Lesson of their Lives for the Young. 
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List of Publications. 



15 



The Book of the Sonnet; being Selections, with an Essay on 
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Lyra Sacra Americana: Gems of American Poetry, selected 
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of Gretton, Northamptonshire, and Hon. Canon of Peterborough. "With 
numerous Illustrative Vignettes, and with Archaeological and other 
Notes. Crown 8vo. bevelled boards, price 8s. 6d. 

The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. By Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, LL.D. Popular Edition, Is. Illustrated Edition, choicely 
printed, cloth extra, 6s. 

The Professor at the Breakfast Table. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
Author of "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table." Cheap Edition, 
fcap. 3s. 6d. 

Bee-keeping. By " The Times " Bee-master. Small post 8vo. 

numerous illustrations, cloth, 5s. 

The Blackbird of Baden, and Other Stories. By Robert 

Black, M.A. Price 6s. 

" A pleasant book, deserving honest praise.'" — Athenaeum. " Furnishes 
a few hours of genuinely pleasant recreation." — Star. " It is unquestion- 
able that whether Mr. Black writes a dismal tale or a bright one, he pos- 
sesses the art of story -telling — Daily News. 

Queer Little People. By the Author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 
Fcap. Is. Also by the same Author. 
The Little Foxes that Spoil the Grapes, Is. 
House and- Home Papers, Is. 

The Pearl of Orr's Island, Illustrated by Gilbert, 5s. 
The Minister's Wooing. Illustrated by Phiz, 5s. 

The Story of Pour Little Women: Meg, Joe, Beth, and Amy. 
By Louisa M. Alcott. With Illustrations. 16mo, cloth 3s. 6d. 

" A bright, cheerful, healthy story — with a tinge of thoughtful gravity 
about it which reminds one of John Bunyan. Meg going to Vanity Fair 
is a chapter written with great cleverness and a pleasant humour." — 
Guardian. 

Also, Entertaining Stories for Young Ladies, 3s. 6d. each, cloth, gilt edges. 
Helen Felton's Question : a Book for Girls. By Agnes Wylde. 
Faith Gartney's Girlhood. By Mrs. D. T. Whitney. Seventh thousand. 
The Gayworthys. By the same Author. Third Edition/ 
A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life. By the same Author. 
The Masque at Ludlow. By the Author of " Mary Powell." 
Miss Biddy Frobisher : a Salt Water Story. By the same Author. 
Selvaggio; a Story of Italy. By the same Author. New Edition. 
The Journal of a Waiting Gentlewoman. By a new Author. New Edition. 
The Shady Side and the Sunny Side. Two Tales of New England. 



C4T4T}' 
3 3 

16 Sampson Low and Co.'s List of Publications, 



Edelweiss: a Story of Swiss Life. By Berthold Auerbach. 

Fcap. 8vo. 55. 

New and Cheaper Edition of " A Mere Story." By the Author 
of " Lady Grace," " Twice Lost," &c. Third Edition, fcap. 8vo. with 
Frontispiece by Sidney Hall. 65. 

"A story that we strongly recommend our readers to procure. . . . Alto- 
gether it is a very pleasant little book, sparkling and original, ivhich no one 
will read without a good deal of enjoyment.''''— Guardian. 

Marian 5 or, the Light of Some One's Home. By Maud Jeanne 
Franc. Small post 8vo., 5s. 

Also, by the same Author, 
Emily's Choice : an Australian Tale. 55. 
Vermont Vale : or, Home Pictures in Australia. 55. 
Minnie's Mission, a Temperance Story. 45. 

Tauchnitz's English Editions of German Authors. Each volume 
cloth flexible, 25. ; or sewed, Is. 6d. The following are now ready :— 

1. On the Heights. By B. Auerbach. 3 vols. 

2. In the Year '13. By Fritz Reuter. 1 vol. 

3. Faust. By Goethe. 1 vol. 

4. Undine, and other Tales. By Fouque. 1 vol. 
5 L'Arrabiata. By Paul Heyse. 1 vol. 

6. The Princess, and other Tales. By Heinrich Zschokke. 1vol. 

7. Lessing's Nathan the "Wise. 

8. Hacklander's Behind the Counter, translated by Mary Howitt. 

9. Three Tales. By W. Hauff. 

10. Joachim v. Kamern ; Diary of a Poor Young Lady. By M. Nathusius. 

11. Poems by Ferdinand Freiligrath, a selection of Translations. Edited 

by his daughter. 

12. Gabriel : a Story of Magdeburgh. From the German of Paul Heyse. 

By Arthur Milman. 

Low's Copyright Cheap Editions of American Authors. A 

thoroughly good and cheap series of editions, which, whilst combining 
every advantage that can be secured by the best workmanship at the 
lowest possible rate, will possess an additional claim on the reading 
public by providing for the remuneration of the American author and 
the legal protection of the English publisher. Ready : — 

1. Haunted Hearts. By the Author of " The Lamplighter." 

2. The Guardian Angel. By " The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." 

3. The Minister's Wooing. By the Author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

4. Views Afoot. By Bayard Taylor. 

5. Kathrina, Her Life and Mine. By J. G. Holland. 

6. Hans Brinker ; or, Life in Holland. By Mrs. Dodge. 

7. Men, Women, and Ghosts. By Miss Phelps. 

To be followed by a New Volume on the first of every alternate month. 
Each complete in itself, printed from new type, with Initial Letters and Orna- 
ments, price Is. 6d. enamelled flexible cover, or 2s. cloth. 



LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, 
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
English, American, and Colonial Booksellers and Publishers. 



Chiswick Press :— Whittingham and Wilkius, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane. 



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